t 


k 


Division  C  (o  O  3 

Section  ^M'56 


OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Our  Physical  Heritage 

in  Christ 


KENNETH  MACKENZIE, 

Author  of  “ Divine  Life  for  the  Body,”  “ Anti- 
Christian  Supernatural  ism ,”  11  An  Angel 
of  Light,”  “ Redemption ,”  etc. 


New  York 


Chicago 


Fleming  H. 

London 


Revell  Company 

Edinburgh 


and 


Copyright,  1923,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London :  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh :  75  Princes  Street 


To 

My  Faithful 
WIPE. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/ourphysicalheritOOmack 


Foreword 


This  book  is  born  of  many  anxious  thoughts  and  a 
heart  that  burns  to  have  God’s  children  see  His  will 
and  walk  in  His  way.  The  great  question  which  it 
presents  is  before  us  with  an  emphasis  never  before 
expressed.  Not  only  must  the  watchmen  on  the  walls 
of  Zion  lift  up  the  voice;  the  people  must  heed  the 
call  of  the  hour. 

The  supernatural,  the  supernormal,  the  phenomenal 
are  becoming  everywhere  more  and  more  operative. 
Forces  hitherto  unrecognized  are  skilfully  working. 
The  world  is  on  the  qui  vive  for  the  marvelous.  In 
our  dread  of  fanaticism,  we  may  cloud  our  vision ;  and 
stifle  our  aspirations  by  a  deadly  conservatism. 

The  crowning  quest  for  every  true  believer  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  to  know  the  mind  and  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  The  problem  that  confronts  us  is  the 
need  for  a  unifying  of  those  who  believe  more  than 
they  think  they  do,  with  those  who  hold  a  superlative 
confidence  in  the  expressed  will  and  potency  of  God. 
Can  we  not  “  get  together  ”  and  see  eye-to-eye,  even  as 
we  would  feel  heart-to-heart,  and  love  with  tenderness 
all  who  have  in  any  measure  the  desire  to  honor  our 
blessed  Lord  Jesus  in  this  challenging  epoch? 

If  I  may  in  some  degree  clarify  the  atmosphere,  and 
assure  the  patient  reader  that  I  have  manifested  only 
the  most  intense  and  long-cherished  hope  of  making 

7 


8 


FOREWORD 


plain  what  has  been  perplexing;  if  I  may  merit  but  a 
wee  “Thank  you”  from  even  those  who  cannot  agree 
with  all  that  is  here  written ;  if  in  short,  there  shall  be 
found  anything  in  this  volume  that  shall  help  upward 
and  onward  a  single  sincere  lover  of  our  Lord,  I  shall 
have  reason  to  hope  that  I  have  not  labored  and 
prayed  in  vain. 


Westport,  Conn. 


K.  M. 


Contents 


I.  The  Recurrence  oe  Doctrine  .  .  .11 

II.  The  Lord  eor  the  Body  .  .  .  .17 

III.  The  Lure  oe  Arien  Voices  .  .  .29 

IV.  Christian  Hearing  in  the  Churches  .  47 
V.  Hearing  Probrems  and  PerprExities  .  71 

VI.  Our  Mortar  Fresh . 138 

VII.  Our  Brood  Brother . 152 

VIII.  Our  Triumphant  Faith  ....  175 

IX.  Aporogia . 196 

Topicar  Index . 213 

Textuar  Index . 219 


9 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  RECURRENCE  OF  DOCTRINE. 

We  owe  to  the  late  Dr.  Adoniram  J.  Gordon,  this 
suggestive  caption.  Truth,  while  fixed  in  its  mould, 
revolves  according  to  the  disposition  of  men  to  receive 
it.  What  is  emphasized  in  one  period  of  time  may  be 
ignored  or  even  repudiated  in  another.  Such  is  the 
vacillating  nature  of  our  humanity;  such  is  the  respon¬ 
sibility  we  assume  in  determining  destiny. 

By  recurrence  of  doctrine,  then,  we  understand  that 
in  certain  periods  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  some 
truths  become  more  real  to  the  people.  Preparations 
for  this  may  ensue  from  national  calamities,  or  in  the 
case  of  groups  of  people  a  revelation  of  need  through 
prayer  for  divine  light.  A  great  war  will  bring  indif¬ 
ferent  Christians  face  to  face  with  teachings  they  had 
loosely  regarded.  Poverty,  suffering,  bereavement 
will  open  the  avenues  of  the  heart  to  God. 

And  the  application  of  the  truth  may  be  different 
in  varying  periods,  which  is  an  all-important  matter 
for  our  consideration.  The  great  revival  in  New  Eng¬ 
land,  generated  by  the  preaching  of  Jonathan 
Edwards,  was  marked  by  the  universal  recognition  of 
hell.  It  is  said  that  when  this  man  took  the  popular 
theme  for  his  discourse,  strong  men  would  cling  to 
the  rail  of  the  pews  before  them,  so  vividly  did  the 
horror  of  eternal  punishment  strike  them.  In  the 
Wesleyan  movement,  sin  was  well  emphasized.  When 
Charles  G.  Finney,  the  revivalist,  walked  amongst  the 


11 


12  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


people,  we  are  told  that  his  very  look  made  men  and 
women  drop  to  their  knees  in  penitence. 

In  the  Moody  revival  of  the  Seventies,  the  message 
of  this  successful  revivalist  was  founded  upon  the 
love  of  God,  the  inference  of  the  hell  from  which  that 
love  has  redeemed  us  being  left  to  the  spiritual  con¬ 
sciousness  of  the  individual.  The  acute  arraignment 
of  sinners  by  the  popular  Billy  Sunday,  deals  more 
with  the  present  deeds  of  the  evil-doers  than  with 
what  will  become  of  them  in  the  hereafter.  The  mind 
of  the  people  in  these  days  is  set  in  a  different  mould 
from  that  of  centuries  past.  It  is  not  our  province  to 
discuss  the  cause  of  this;  nor  yet  to  insist  that  only 
by  going  back  to  the  old  concepts  can  we  do  the  work 
of  God.  We  are  concerned  only  with  the  fact. 

Next  as  a  matter  of  history,  we  may  remark  that 
the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  noted  for 
an  unprecedented  movement  in  the  study  of  the  Bible. 
Publishing  houses  were  taxed  to  meet  the  demand. 
Bible  classes  sprang  up  on  all  sides.  The  preaching 
of  the  Word  of  God  became  for  the  time  more  apos¬ 
tolic  for  that  the  discourses  were  marked  by  Scriptural 
reference  more  freely  than  in  the  past.  The  longing 
of  the  children  of  God  was  expressed  in  the  pursuit 
of  discovering  “What  saith  the  Lord  ?”  And  the  rising 
religious  tide  was  marked  by  the  renewal  of  the  per¬ 
sonal  experience  of  the  believer  in  the  ways  of  wealth 
of  faith.  The  former  regime  had  been  controversial. 
Unitarianism  had  gathered  strength,  and  must,  per¬ 
force,  be  combatted;  great  intellectual  battles  were 
fought  over  the  mode  of  baptism,  predestination,  fu¬ 
ture  punishment ;  and  in  the  Episcopal  Church  the 
threatening  form  of  ritualism  disturbed  the  peace  of 


THE  RECURRENCE  OF  DOCTRINE 


13 


the  evangelicals.  Men  were  concerned  about  the 
truth;  but  had  not  gone  deep  into  the  mines  for  the 
precious  ore  that  should  enrich  their  lives.  The  key¬ 
note  of  this  movement  was,  “  What  can  the  Lord  Jesus 
be  to  me?’5  And  myriads  of  souls  found  a  clear  and 
satisfying  answer. 

Concurrent  with  this  phase  of  the  movement  was 
the  widely  disseminated  truth  of  the  personality  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  With  the  lists  of  our  publishing  houses 
freely  dotted  with  books  on  the  third  person  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  we  in  our  day  are  far  from  compre¬ 
hending  the  situation  before  this  epoch.  A  prominent 
writer,  in  one  of  the  religious  magazines  as  late  as 
1890,  confessed  that  an  experience  of  eighteen  years 
had  brought  him  to  the  solemn  conclusion  that  in  the 
sermons  of  that  period  there  had  been  a  signal  absence 
of  any  allusion  to  “  The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy 
Ghost.”  His  observations  had  extended  not  alone  to 
the  hearing  of  discourses  by  prominent  evangelical 
ministers ;  but  as  well  to  the  study  of  prayer-meeting 
topics,  Scripture  lessons  and  year-books.  One  lengthy 
article  on  “Intellect  in  the  Modem  Pulpit”  had  not  a 
single  reference  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  A  pamphlet  of 
eighteen  pages  on  “The  Practical  Training  Needed  for 
the  Ministry  of  Today”  by  a  professor  in  one  of  the 
theological  seminaries,  and  of  unquestioned  ortho¬ 
doxy,  makes  no  mention  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  min¬ 
istry.  He  also  quoted  the  statement  of  Dr.  Daniel 
Steele  that  “In  forty  years  not  one  article  on  this  topic 
was  to  be  found  among  the  one  thousand  and  two  hun¬ 
dred  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  or  in  the  Methodist 
Quarterly  Review.” 

We  may  readily  trace  through  these  intervening 


U  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


years  and  discern  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in 
the  two  lines  of  the  divine  provision — the  wide-spread 
use  of  the  Word  of  God  by  the  individual  Christian 
and  the  return  of  the  truth  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the 
interpreter  of  that  Word.  Frances  Ridley  Havergal 
popularized  the  Bible  by  her  books,  in  which  she 
adroitly  wove  Scripture  passage  into  her  heart-to- 
heart  messages  to  the  Christian  world.  Margaret 
Bottome  represented  the  Christian  women  in  America 
and  England  who  held  in  many  centers  parlor  Bible 
readings.  The  development  of  the  International  Sun¬ 
day  School  Lessons  exerted  a  strong  influence  in 
popularizing  the  Word  of  God. 

Let  us  be  certified  that  with  such  a  movement  under 
way,  the  Church  of  God  would  be  confronted  with 
problems,  as  well  as  pleasing  prospects.  The  Holiness 
Movement  accentuated,  drawing  into  its  fold  many 
idiosyncrasies.  Separatism  developed  with  alarming 
possibilities.  In  reading  the  Bible  for  themselves  and 
believing  they  had  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  guide 
them,  men  threw  off  the  restraints  of  the  historic 
Church  and  formed  sects,  which  in  turn  sub-divided 
on  some  trivial  point  of  division  of  conviction.  Fanati¬ 
cism  grasped  the  arm  of  faith.  While  the  materialism 
of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  yet  con¬ 
spicuously  operative,  the  sublimation  of  spiritual 
ideals,  having  but  a  human  source  and  supply,  became 
a  threatening  factor.  Indeed,  we  are  yet  beholding 
the  effect  of  the  trend.  A  well-known  Bible  teacher 
in  Boston  made  the  succinct  remark  not  long  ago,  “The 
shores  of  New  England  are  strewn  with  religious 
wreckage.”  The  well-balanced  leaders  of  evangelism 
and  sanctification  have  had  their  hands  full  while  their 


THE  RECURRENCE  OF  DOCTRINE  1$ 

hearts  have  been  heavy  in  the  perplexity  of  holding 
the  centrifugal  forces  from  flying  off  the  tangent. 

We  may  not  be  surprised  that  with  all  the  impulse 
and  unction  which  the  recurrence  of  doctrine  as  sug¬ 
gested  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  had  opened  up,  that 
there  should  be  a  hungry  appeal  to  the  solicitous  shep¬ 
herds  of  the  flock  for  some  provision  in  the  Word  of 
God  for  the  physical  needs.  Christians  were  learning 
to  take  everything  to  the  Lord  in  prayer.  He  had 
grown  more  precious  to  them  because  of  the  light  and 
love  that  had  come  into  their  spiritual  beings.  Why 
limit  Him  in  His  working  ?  In  many  quarters  the  re¬ 
straining  protests  of  the  guardians  of  the  sheep  were 
met  by  pleadings  which  bore  eloquent  arguments  for 
the  acceptance  of  “all  the  counsel  of  God.”  We  may 
readily  apprehend  that  pastors  deficient  of  the  faith 
to  stand  where  their  advanced  parishioners  had  taken 
their  place  would  become  antagonistic.  We  are  all 
human ;  and  we  do  not  like  others  to  go  beyond  what 
we  are  able  to  reach.  And  so,  the  appropriation  of 
the  truth  as  they  saw  it  brought  upon  the  precious 
heads  of  those  who  had  learned  to  “go  through  with 
God,”  the  stem  decree  of  excommunication. 

Our  concern,  as  we  close  this  chapter,  is  to  ask, 
Shall  we  relegate  this  aspiration  for  the  Lord  for  the 
body  to  a  merely  human  devising,  or  shall  we  rever¬ 
ently  accede  that  God  is  in  it  and  that  He  has  His 
plan  for  His  own,  who  behold  an  advance  in  spiritual 
ideals  and  achievements  ?  We  may  be  free  to  criticise 
certain  personal  expressions  of  the  experience  of  those 
who  go  where  we  hesitate  to  put  our  feet ;  but  we 
must  meekly  acknowledge  that  if  God  is  working,  the 
hush  of  reverence  becomes  us.  Our  decisions  must 


16  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


rest  upon  a  considerate  recognition  of  the  genesis  of 
things.  Nor  let  those  who  seek  fuller  light  and  deeper 
walking  with  God  be  broken-hearted  if  some  frank 
brute  tells  them  that  they  are  fools.  The  supreme 
test  for  both  sides  is  the  question,  “Is  it  true  and  am 
I  related  to  it?”  Our  thoughtful  Lord  has  put  us  here 
at  this  particular  point  in  the  world's  history  that  we 
may  respond  to  the  forces  and  factors  which  greet  us. 
We  may  be  great  in  God  by  rising  to  the  call 
for  consecration;  we  may  sink  supinely  in  our  con¬ 
servatism  while  the  valiant  ones  march  on  “to  know 
the  Lord."  We  have  seen  the  working  of  this  princi¬ 
ple  in  the  history  of  the  world’s  progress.  It  is  not 
less  operative  and  significant  in  the  spiritual  life. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  LORD  FOR  THE  BODY. 


A  change  was  beginning  to  manifest  in  the  medical 
profession  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Far  too  long  had  therapeutics  ruled  in  the  realm  of  a 
dead  materialism.  The  materia  me  die  a  was  establish¬ 
ed  entirely  upon  the  assumption  that  the  human  body 
is  a  machine.  Now  thoughtful  practitioners  were 
coming  to  a  wiser  vision.  The  mind  of  the  patient 
needed  attention  as  well  as  his  flesh.  Diet  and  regi¬ 
men,  sanitation  and  hygiene  were  to  be  taken  into  ac¬ 
count.  No  one  single  mind  created  this  revolution.  It 
grew  spontaneously  and  almost  imperceptibly  to  the 
conviction  of  honest  physicians.  Less  medicine,  more 
wholesome  advice;  fresh  air  and  cheerfulness,  rather 
than  dosage.  The  new,  and  for  the  time  much  hated 
school  of  Homeopathy  exerted  a  strong  influence  over 
the  public.  The  origin  of  disease  was  as  important  as 
its  removal.  To  find  the  cause  was  as  necessary  as 
to  prescribe  the  remedy.  Such  then  was  the  soil  in 
which  the  plant  of  Divine  Healing  germinated.  It 
seemed  the  logical  step.  In  the  perspective,  as  we  view 
it,  every  rational  student  of  history  will  concede  that 
any  other  unfolding  of  the  new  Christian  movement, 
paralleled  by  the  neo-medical  birth,  would  be  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  development. 

Three  great  figures  loom  against  the  sky-line  of  the 
last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Diversified  in 
character  and  method  of  expression,  they  sought  the 

17 


18  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


same  end  and  achieved  the  same  results.  They  were 
called  “faith-curists,”  and  the  American  native  sense 
of  humor  did  not  spare  them  the  odium  of  the  com¬ 
mon  jest.  Each  man  followed  implicitly  what  he  had 
devoutly  recognized  as  the  will  of  God;  they  who 
waited  upon  their  ministry  were  impressed  by  the  same 
conviction.  And  not  only  in  America,  but  abroad  also 
the  swell  of  the  movement  extended.  Dorothea  Trudel, 
Otto  Stockmayer,  Pastor  Blumhardt,  Karl  Andreas, 
Dr.  Boardman  and  Mrs.  Baxter  of  London  shone  out 
on  the  horizon  of  promise.  Myriads  of  men  and 
women  (and  children  too)  were  evidently  healed  of 
physical  disorders;  many  of  which  were  pronounced 
incurable.  There  are  yet  some  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  who  reverently  believe  that  they  would  have  been 
dust  and  ashes  long  ago  but  for  the  healing  they  then 
received. 

Dr.  Charles  Cullis,  a  physician  of  Boston,  was  the 
first  to  come  before  the  American  public  in  this  unique 
ministry.  A  man  of  deep  piety  and  clear  thought, 
he  found  that  prayer  was  a  means  of  physical 
quickening,  not  alone  by  its  subjective  influence,  but 
that  resting  upon  the  promises  of  God,  a  power  for 
healing  was  being  manifest  in  his  ministry.  Being 
well-trained  in  the  system  of  diagnosis,  he  was 
fully  qualified  to  pronounce  the  character  of  the  dis¬ 
ease  with  which  his  patients  were  afflicted.  Con¬ 
sumption,  the  name  then  employed  for  tuberculosis, 
yielded  especially  to  “  the  prayer  of  faith.”  Cancer, 
too,  and  other  then  believed  incurable  diseases  were 
overcome. 

The  work  so  enlarged  under  Dr.  Cullis’  ministry 


THE  LORD  FOR  THE  BODY 


19 


that  his  conventions  at  Old  Orchard,  Maine,  during 
the  summer,  were  thronged  with  seekers  for  healing. 
Eventually,  he  selected  Intervale,  New  Hampshire,  for 
his  own  work,  so  as  to  be  undisturbed  by  the  dates  for 
other  religious  bodies,  as  was  the  case  at  Old  Orchard. 
This  summer  resort  was  so  largely  patronized  by 
others  as  well  as  those  seeking  healing,  that  great 
buildings  splendidly  equipped  were  necessary  for  the 
increasing  crowds  of  fine-minded  people  who  sought 
the  spot  for  recuperation  and  religious  truth.  In  Bos¬ 
ton  too,  a  large  and  commodious  home  was  erected 
for  the  reception  of  the  sick,  who  believed  God  for 
their  healing. 

Dr.  Cullis’  popularity  may  be  estimated  by  the  re¬ 
corded  fact  that  a  letter  coming  across  the  sea  ad¬ 
dressed,  “To  the  Man  in  America  who  believes  God,” 
found  its  way  into  his  hands.  And  this  was  the  secret 
of  his  phenomenal  ministry.  Healing  by  faith  was  the 
key-note.  He  had  not  arrived  at  any  formulated 
system  regarding  the  truth.  That  God  had  the  power 
to  heal,  that  His  promises  were  sufficiently  reliable  to 
insure  healing,  that  God  did  heal  were  enough  for 
him.  We  do  well  to  remark  this.  As  the  first  apostle 
of  the  new  ministry  of  prayer,  he  remained  in  the 
sphere  of  thought  and  action  which  had  been  tested 
by  experience.  He  was  not  a  theologian;  the  sophis¬ 
tries  of  the  schools  had  no  charm  for  him.  In  the 
Willard  Tract  Repository,  which  he  founded,  there 
were  books  published  written  by  others  which  took  the 
advanced  position  of  formulating  a  system  of  healing. 
We  have  no  ground  now  for  discussing  that  phase  of 
the  movement.  We  are  recording  history  and  the  men¬ 
tion  of  Dr.  Cullis’  work  demands  that  his  position  in 


20  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


the  field  of  healing  should  be  stated.  That  for  which  he 
stood  may  be  said  to  be  genesis  of  the  modem  healing 
trend. 

John  Alexander  Dowie,  in  every  respect  a  contrast 
to  Dr.  Cullis,  is  deserving  of  classification  with  the 
Boston  physician,  the  highly  cultured  gentleman  of 
his  generation.  Dr.  Dowie,  a  doughty  Scotchman, 
brought  to  his  task  every  element  of  stolid,  uncompro¬ 
mizing  devotion  to  the  truth  as  he  saw  it.  If  he  angered 
men  by  his  caustic  epithets,  they  were  compelled  to 
honor  him  for  his  sincerity.  He  produced  fruits ;  and 
no  one  dared  to  deny  the  fact.  fHe  was,  unquestion¬ 
ably,  the  apostle  of  healing  in  his  day. 

The  ground  of  his  dedication  to  this  ministry  em¬ 
phasizes  and  confirms  what  we  have  contended.  This 
man,  a  giant  of  faith,  did  not  appoint  himself  to  this 
field  of  Christian  service.  If  God  was  not  in  it,  then 
we  have  little  ground  for  ascertaining  His  hand  in  any 
movement.  Dr.  Dowie’s  story,  as  nearly  as  I  can  re¬ 
call  it,  was  as  follows :  A  severe  epidemic  had  invaded 
the  town  in  which  he  ministered  as  a  Congregational 
pastor,  situated  in  Australia.  Day  after  day,  he  fol¬ 
lowed  the  form  of  one  or  more  of  his  parishioners  to 
the  grave ;  he  did  little  else  save  to  visit  and  pray  with 
the  sick  and  dying.  One  morning,  as  he  approached 
the  home  where  lay  one  of  his  Sunday  school  girls  of 
whom  he  was  especially  fond,  a  spirit  of  resentment 
arose  in  his  breast.  The  family  doctor  was  just  leav¬ 
ing  and  said  to  the  agitated  pastor,  “  Mr.  Dowie,  we 
must  bow  under  the  hand  of  an  all-wise  God.”  In¬ 
stantly,  with  a  decision  which  almost  staggered  himself, 
he  replied,  ffGod  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  is  the 


THE  LORD  FOR  THE  BODY 


21 


work  of  the  Devil.”  All  the  physician  could  say  was, 
“You  are  over-wrought,  my  friend.  Have  a  care  lest 
you  should  also  fall  under  this  terrible  plague.”  Be¬ 
fore  entering  the  sick-room  where  the  dying  child  was 
lying,  he  appealed  to  the  mother,  “Can  you  stand  with 
me  for  the  healing  of  this  daughter  by  faith  in  God  ?” 
The  afflicted  mother,  inspired  by  a  new  hope,  re¬ 
sponded  in  the  affirmative.  Then,  proving  his  faith,  he 
instructed  the  nurse  to  prepare  a  cup  of  cocoa  and  have 
a  slice  of  buttered  bread  ready  when  he  should  call 
for  it.  Kneeling  by  the  side  of  the  child,  an  earnest 
outpouring  of  faith  and  supplication  was  succeeded 
by  the  arousing  of  the  patient  with  the  words,  “O 
mother,  I  have  had  such  a  lovely  dream ;  and  I  am  so 
hungry.”  Being  fed  the  bread  and  cocoa,  she  turned 
over  and  renewed  her  sleep.  Entering  an  adjoining 
room,  where  a  brother  of  this  girl  lay  similarly 
stricken,  the  like  program  was  followed.  He  too  re¬ 
covered.  And  from  that  day  until  he  left  that  parish, 
there  was  not  another  burial  from  his  flock. 

At  Melbourne,  his  healing  mission  became  so  widely 
known  that  a  tabernacle  was  erected  to  accommodate 
the  crowds.  We  may  charitably  allow  that  had  he  con¬ 
fined  his  ministry  to  the  people  of  his  first  love,  the 
record  of  his  life  might  have  had  another  ending.  But 
with  the  consciousness  of  his  call  sounding  loudly  in 
his  soul,  he  came  to  America  in  1888.  A  brief 
sojourn  in  California  was  followed  by  the  removal 
to  Chicago,  which  became  the  Mecca  of  the  sick 
from  all  parts  of  the  land.  His  great  home,  accom¬ 
modating  scores  of  persons,  was  always  packed  with 
guests,  once  the  tide  of  success  turned  his  way. 
Bona  fide  healings  can  be  attested  at  the  present  time 


22  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


as  occurring  under  that  roof.  An  immense  tabernacle 
was  erected  and  always  well  filled.  Facing  the  con¬ 
gregation  on  the  walls,  were  crutches,  canes,  trusses, 
bandages  and  braces,  left  by  the  liberated  captives, 
who  had  gone  forth  believingly  healed  by  the  mighty 
power  of  God. 

Born  rulers  wisely  seek  and  receive  counsel  from 
those  who  may  be  competent  to  advise  them.  Dr. 
Dowie  had  no  peers.  Aids  in  his  work  he  counted  by 
the  score.  But  they  were  followers  only.  Mrs.  Eddy 
was  one  of  the  greatest  autocrats  in  history;  but  she 
discreetly  steered  her  bark  according  to  the  adverse 
winds  of  public  opinion,  until  she  was  sure  of  her  port. 
Then  entering  the  harbor,  she  tied  her  boat  to  the  dock 
of  unflinching  rigidity  and  reigned  as  a  queen  won¬ 
dered  at  and  worshiped.  Dr.  Dowie  was  not  so  wise. 
Opposition  inflamed  him;  and  there  fell  from  his  lips 
and  dropped  from  his  pen  such  anathemas  as  few  men 
have  dared  to  pronounce  in  the  name  of  God.  Per¬ 
haps  it  was  this  disposition  which  led  him  to  name 
himself  Elijah  the  prophet.  His  solitariness  in  the 
world  of  his  own  creating  no  doubt  impelled  him  with 
the  prophet’s  lament,  “I,  even  I  only,  am  left.”  But 
he  loved  this  isolation.  It  fed  his  sense  of  the  unique¬ 
ness  of  his  calling.  And  like  the  prophet  whose  name 
he  took,  he  regarded  all  who  did  not  agree  with  him 
as  priests  of  Baal.  The  fire  and  tempest,  the  earth¬ 
quake  were  more  potential  to  him  than  “the  voice  of 
gentle  stillness.” 

The  impulse  which  fired  him  on  the  memorable  day 
when  he  won  his  first  captive  from  the  hand  of  the 
enemy,  was  no  doubt  the  ground  on  which  he  stood  in 
those  days  of  violent  arraignment  against  “doctors, 


THE  LORD  FOR  THE  BODY 


23 


drugs  and  devils.”  The  abhorrent  classification  was 
not  in  the  least  modified  during  all  his  ministry.  Rea¬ 
sonable  people  could  not  stand  with  him  in  this  postu¬ 
late.  Yet  he  continued  to  have  a  great  following;  and 
at  last  he  culminated  his  dream  of  Christian  commu¬ 
nism  in  the  founding  of  Zion  City,  not  far  from 
Chicago,  under  his  dictatorship.  Here,  no  drugs,  no 
tobacco,  no  pork  (for  he  was  a  strenuous  opponent 
of  the  flesh  of  the  swine),  no  worldly  amusements  were 
permitted.  By  the  hundreds  the  people  put  their  dol¬ 
lars  into  this  enterprise.  Visions  of  a  really  Christian 
commonwealth  rose  before  their  eyes  and  the  spirit  of 
contentment  that  they  should  be  free  from  the  wicked¬ 
ness  of  the  great  social  fabric  about  them  possessed 
their  souls.  Our  province  is  not  to  comment  upon  the 
unwisdom  of  this.  Experts  in  social  economy  are 
clear  in  their  judgment  that  no  such  undertaking  has 
ever  proven  of  permanent  value.  But  a  man  of  Dr. 
Dowie’s  faith  could  not  give  place  to  discretion  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  scheme.  He  was  swept  on  by 
the  impetuosity  of  his  spirit.  The  city  rose  in  its  vir¬ 
gin  strength  and  beauty.  The  administration  of  the 
Christian  leader  was  firm  and  uncompromising. 

His  paper,  “Leaves  of  Healing,”  a  commendable 
product  of  the  printer’s  art,  gave  weekly  testimonies 
to  the  constant  healings.  Photographs  of  the  sick  be¬ 
fore  their  healing  and  of  the  recovered  were  graphi¬ 
cally  descriptive  of  the  wonderful  work  being  done. 
Impotent  critics  declared  he  was  a  fraud;  others 
claimed  that  he  was  a  master  of  the  black  arts ;  all  sorts 
of  devices  were  set  forth  to  account  for  the  marvel¬ 
ous  accomplishments ;  while  humble  believers  bowed 
before  God  and  thanked  Him  for  this  faithful  ser- 


24  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


vant.  His  published  sermons,  while  lacking  the  mag¬ 
netism  of  his  personal  presence,  were  not  deleted  of 
the  acrimonious  terms  which  garnished  the  spoken 
messages.  With  the  force  of  the  sledge-hammer,  the 
keenness  of  the  Damascene  blade,  he  mercilessly  slew 
the  prophets  of  Baal,  who  by  voice  or  pen  presumed 
to  dispute  his  call.  His  favorite  terms  for  moderate 
drinkers  or  tobacco  users  were  more  cutting  than 
elegant. 

At  the  thronged  burial  service  which  was  held  over 
his  remains,  in  the  Tabernacle  he  had  established,  and 
where  he  had  faithfully  labored  for  many  years,  one 
of  the  speakers  remarked  that  Albert  B.  Simpson 
was  born  with  an  empire  in  his  brain.  No  more  sure 
word  could  have  been  spoken.  And  withal,  so  wide 
a  vision  and  so  comprehensive  a  grasp  were  wedded 
to  an  unselfish  and  humble  spending  of  himself  for 
others. 

The  pastor  of  one  of  the  leading  Presbyterian 
churches  of  the  Metropolis,  and  with  every  induce¬ 
ment  to  abide  as  the  happy  friend  and  shepherd  of  a 
people  who  truly  loved  him,  he  relinquished  the  stated 
income  and  a  settled  home,  for  the  exigencies  of  a 
life  of  faith  in  November  1881,  and  faced  in  a  little 
hall  his  first  congregation  of  seven  persons'. 

The  reason  for  this  radical  move,  which  for  blind¬ 
ness  of  discernment  some  were  disposed  to  infer  was 
a  proof  of  mental  unbalance,  was  a  heart-hunger  for 
the  great  mass  of  the  unchurched  who  lived  in  the 
neighborhood  of  his  own  pastorate.  His  people  could 
not  go  all  the  way  with  him,  and  he  felt  he  must  go 
alone.  At  the  parish  prayer-meeting  when  he  an- 


THE  LORD  FOR  THE  BODY 


25 


nounced  his  purpose,  his  text  was,  “  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor.” 

If  men  were  drawn  to  his  meetings  from  the  curi¬ 
osity  aroused  by  the  free  advertising  which  a  sensa¬ 
tional  press  accorded  him,  they  found  more  than  they 
had  thought — a  man  who  loved  souls,  who  had  a  defi¬ 
nite  message  and  lived  the  faith  he  preached.  With 
such  a  dedication,  God  could  use  him  ;  and  He  did  to 
the  fullest.  From  place  to  place  he  went  seeking 
larger  quarters ;  and  the  evangelism  to  which  he  gave 
himself  led  at  length  to  the  hiring  of  the  spacious 
Academy  of  Music,  where  on  Sunday  evenings  he 
preached  to  crowds.  To  dwell  upon  this  phase  of  his 
memorable  career  is  tempting;  but  his  published  life 
will  better  display  how  the  Lord  honored  His  servant. 
Our  province  is  to  deal  with  the  truth  of  healing  as 
he  experienced  and  declared  it. 

Though  a  man  of  large  structure,  he  bore  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  one  not  ordinarily  robust.  The  need  of 
strength  for  his  increasingly  arduous  labors  made  him 
a  ready  candidate  for  divine  life  for  his  body  when 
the  problem  came  to  the  fore.  As  the  pastor  of  the 
Thirteenth  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  he  had  not 
given  the  matter  serious  thought.  Once,  when  in  the 
study  of  the  subject  with  a  fellow-minister,  the  latter 
said,  “Yes,  Simpson;  I  see  that  healing  is  a  part  of 
our  privilege.  But  we  cannot  preach  it.”  To  which 
our  brother  made  prompt  reply,  “I  do  not  yet  clearly 
see  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  Gospel  for  today;  but  if  I 
ever  do,  I  must  preach  it.” 

The  Rev.  Rowland  V.  Bingham,  editor  of  the  Evan¬ 
gelical  Christian ,  has  testified  that  “no  one  can  ques- 


26  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


tion  that  his  covenant  (to  take  the  Lord  as  his  life) 
was  great  in  its  results.  Instead  of  going  to  an  early 
grave,  he  was  restored  to  a  fulness  of  health  that  en¬ 
abled  him  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  do 
as  much  work  as  two  men.” 

In  process  of  time,  Friday  afternoons  were  devoted 
to  teaching  and  testimony  regarding  this  growing 
search  by  praying  Christians  for  the  mind  and  power 
of  God.  To  say  that  many  were  healed,  and  of  mala¬ 
dies  which  had  been  pronounced  incurable,  would  be 
trite.  The  record  has  passed  into  history,  written  in 
the  memories  of  men,  but  by  no  register  which  he  kept. 
There  are  grateful  witnesses  today,  who  can  substan¬ 
tiate  the  claim  that  he  became  God’s  minister  to  them, 
not  alone  for  salvation  and  sanctification,  but  for  the 
restoration  of  the  gift  of  healing  which  the  Church 
had  allowed  to  pass  into  disuse.  To  attempt  any 
enumeration  of  names  would  be  embarrassing,  so  nu¬ 
merous  and  marked  were  the  testimonies.  I  should 
love  to  speak  of  saintly  women,  like  Mrs.  Naylor  and 
Mrs.  Whittemore;  and  of  my  own  child  in  the  faith, 
dear  Jos.  Pulis,  converted  in  the  hall  maintained  by  the 
church  with  which  I  was  connected ;  and  led  to  receive 
the  Lord  for  his  wrecked  body  through  our  brother’s 
teaching.  This  man  rounded  out  a  life  of  over  eighty 
years,  wonderfully  used  in  his  daily  Bible  readings  and 
prayer-ministry. 

But  let  us  be  assured  that  healing  was  but  a  seg¬ 
ment  of  the  circle  of  Dr.  Simpson’s  endeavors.  Dr. 
Dowie  severely  condemned  him  for  not  making  it  the 
sole  aim  of  his  ministry.  But  he  displayed  a  wisdom 
which  we  may  reverently  believe  was  of  the  Lord,  in 
exalting  evangelism  and  missions  to  the  place  which 


THE  LORD  FOR  THE  BODY 


27 


the  New  Testament  assigns  them.  This  method  has 
been  justified.  If  the  slogan  of  the  Christian  and  Mis¬ 
sionary  Alliance,  which  he  founded,  is  yet  the  Four¬ 
fold  Gospel — Jesus  our  Saviour,  Sanctifier ,  Healer 
and  Coming  King,  the  healing  section  takes  its  subor¬ 
dinate  place  as  contingent  upon  reconciliation  with 
God  (evangelism)  ;  a  life  indwelt  and  controlled  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  (sanctification)  ;  and  the  impulse  for 
the  saving  of  the  lost  resident  in  the  promise  of  His 
coming  when  the  Gospel  should  be  preached  in  all  the 
world.  Every  selfish  element  is  excluded  from  the 
search  for  healing  by  the  inclusiveness  of  this  belief. 

The  movement  of  which  he  was  the  leader,  at  first 
following  the  line  of  Dr.  Cullis’  method,  took  the 
form  of  a  deeper  experience  of  the  life  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.  If  it  had  been  that  as  in  Bible  times,  men 
were  required  to  exercise  faith  only,  now  the  test  lay 
in  heart-searching  for  a  right  relation  with  God.  Dr. 
Simpson  was  probably  the  first  man  to  define  healing 
as  provided  in  the  atonement.  Dr.  Simpson  held  to  the 
end  what  had  been  defined  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
teaching.  And  the  conflict  of  opinion  at  the  present 
time  centers  around  this  mooted  problem.  Dr.  Simp¬ 
son  had  declared  that  healing  is  founded  upon  Christ’s 
sacrifice  and  redemption ;  through  the  resurrection  of 
the  Lord,  by  the  impartation  of  His  risen  life,  His  in¬ 
dwelling  in  our  bodies  and  by  the  quickening  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  And  the  Christian  and  Missionary 
Alliance,  presided  over  by  his  efficient  successor,  the 
Rev.  Paul  Rader,  maintains  the  postulate. 

The  final  stage  of  the  teaching  much  antagonized 
Dr.  Dowie,  who  contended  that  disease,  root  and 
branch,  must  be  eradicated  or  faith  is  a  dead  failure. 


28  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


He  had  no  sympathy  with  sickness  as  a  discipline;  but 
Dr.  Simpson  came  to  regard  that  the  Lord  in  His 
sovereignty  could  use  it  and  make  it  the  medium  of 
power.  Those  of  us  who  stood  with  him  at  the  time 
were  led  to  see  the  same  perspective  of  purpose.  If 
the  Apostle  could  glory  in  his  infirmities  that  the  power 
of  Christ  might  rest  upon  him,  why  not  we?  This, 
I  believe,  has  been  a  stumbling-block  to  many.  And 
concerning  it,  each,  seeker  for  truth  must  get  the 
Lord’s  mind  for  himself. 

His  dedication  to  missions  was  splendidly  vindicated 
after  he  was  called  to  a  life  of  quiet.  We  who  had 
watched  over  him  with  solicitude  and  affection  during 
those  engaging  years,  were  wont  to  wonder,  “What 
will  become  of  this  great  fabric,  when  he  ceases  his 
activities?  Who  will  deliver  the  stirring  missionary 
sermons  which  have  so  moved  the  people  of  God  to 
surrender  themselves  and  their  means  ?  ”  As  a  matter 
of  record,  when  he  was  removed  from  active  service, 
the  conventions  held  over  the  land  increased  in  interest, 
in  gifts,  in  volunteers  for  service ;  and  the  number  of 
students  applying  for  admission  to  the  Missionary 
Training  Institute  became  larger  than  ever  in  its  his¬ 
tory.  I  bow  my  head  as  I  write  this,  in  acknowledg¬ 
ment  of  the  true  greatness  of  the  man,  who  was  willing 
to  sink  out  of  sight.  He  had  one  source  of  power  left. 
While  others  labored,  Albert  Simpson  prayed. 

And  the  inspiring  sight  of  a  large  body  of  Alliance 
leaders  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  convened  for 
his  burial,  convincingly  demonstrated  that  he  had  built 
wisely  and  well.  As  I  pass  the  mound  on  the  hillside 
at  Nyack,  beneath  which  his  body  rests,  I  am  impelled 
to  whisper  to  my  heart,  “  He  being  dead,  yet  speaketh.” 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES. 

Concurrent  with  the  movement  we  have  noted  an¬ 
other  has  made  its  memorable  imprint  upon  the  Chris¬ 
tian  community.  Coming  to  birth  through  the  recogni¬ 
tion  of  the  marriage  of  mental  concepts  and  physical 
disorders,  it  has  assumed  towering  sovereignty  and 
threatens  the  very  life  of  the  historic  Church. 

Unquestionably,  the  mind  has  much  to  do  with  the 
ills  of  humanity.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  has  been 
acknowledged  by  the  medical  profession.  The  nerve 
centers  receive  impulses  from  the  thought  sources. 
And  pure  metaphysics  is  a  boon  to  the  world.  We 
may  all  wish  such  undertakings  the  fullest  measure  of 
success.  For  the  need  of  such  treatment  is  glaringly 
prominent  in  our  day. 

To  Phineas  Parkhurst  Quimby  (by  courtesy 
Doctor)  belongs  the  unsought  notoriety  of  founding  a 
metaphysical  system  which  has  become  the  basis  of  a 
supposedly  modern  religion.  As  his  patients  were  uni¬ 
formly  professing  Christians,  he  enjoined  upon  them 
the  acceptance  of  the  healing  power  of  Jesus  Christ. 
This  he  set  forth,  not  as  proceeding  from  the  exalta¬ 
tion  of  our  Lord,  but  as  the  ideal  which  all  might 
employ,  as  Jesus  did,  in  resisting  the  error  of  disease 
by  the  affirmation  of  the  reality  of  health.  His  quo¬ 
tations  from  the  Bible  are  indicative  of  superficial 
knowledge  of  its  contents ;  and  they  partake  of  an  in¬ 
dividualistic  construction  in  his  hands.  While  his  son, 

29 


30  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Mr.  George  A.  Quimby,  disavows  that  his  father  was 
a  Swedenborgian,  he  certainly  expresses  Swedenborg’s 
mystical  method  in  interpreting  the  Word  of  God. 
According  to  his  own  confession  (The  Quimby  Manu¬ 
scripts  edited  by  Horatio  W.  Dresser,  pp.  192,  193) 
he  had  abandoned  the  faith  of  Christianity  as  held  by 
the  Church  in  all  the  past  ages:  “It  is  generally  un¬ 
derstood  that  man  had  wandered  away  from  God,  and 
that  unless  he  repented  and  turned  to  God,  he  would 
be  banished  from  His  presence  forever.  This  being 
the  state  of  mankind,  God,  seeing  no  way  by  which 
man  could  be  saved,  gave  His  only  Son  as  a  ransom 
for  the  redemption  of  the  world:  or,  God  made  Him¬ 
self  manifest  in  the  flesh,  and  came  into  the  world,  suf¬ 
fered  and  died,  and  rose  again,  to  show  that  we  should 
all  rise  from  the  dead.  .  .  Jesus  never  taught  one  single 
idea  of  the  above,  but  condemned  the  whole  as  super¬ 
stition  and  ignorance.” 

This  quotation  enlightens  our  minds  as  we  contem¬ 
plate  the  framework  of  the  system  for  which  he  is  re¬ 
sponsible  and  which  is  the  blight  of  Christianity  to¬ 
day.  His  description  of  disease,  however,  may  bear  a 
scientific  approval  (though  he  flouted  both  doctors  and 
priests  with  more  than  one  vitriolic  sentence).  He  de¬ 
clares  that  “all  effects  produced  on  the  human  frame 
are  the  result  of  a  chemical  change  of  the  fluids  of  the 
body,  and  are  accompanied  by  a  peculiar  state  of 
mind.”  He  insisted  that  disease  is  the  product  of  false 
thinking.  To  remove  this  “error”  he  resorted  to 
“silent  spiritual  treatment,”  in  which  process  the 
patient  became  aware  of  the  potency  of  repose.  It 
also  enabled  him  to  diagnose  his  patients,  for  he  never 
questioned  them  as  to  their  ailments. 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


31 


Mrs.  Mary  Baker-Glover-Patterson-Eddy,  (at  that 
time  Mrs.  Patterson)  thought  to  be  almost  at  the  point 
of  death,  visited  Dr.  Quimby  in  October,  1862.  She 
was  confessedly  healed.  Her  testimony  in  the  Port¬ 
land  Evening  Courier  later  leaves  no  room  for  doubt: 
“Three  weeks  since,  I  quitted  my  nurse  and  sick  room 
en  route  for  Portland.  The  belief  of  my  recovery  had 
died  out  of  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  most  anxious 
for  it.  With  this  mental  and  physical  depression,  I 
first  visited  P.  P.  Quimby ;  and  in  less  than  one  week 
from  that  time,  I  ascended  by  a  stairway  of  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty-two  steps  to  the  dome  of  the  City 
Hall;  and  am  improving  ad  infinitum.  To  the  most 
subtle  reasoning,  such  a  proof,  coupled  too  as  it  is  with 
numberless  similar  ones,  demonstrates  his  power  to 
heal.” 

The  mystery  of  her  life  lies  in  her  utter  repudiation 
of  this  testimony.  She  made  a  second  visit  in  1864, 
this  time  to  study  Quimby’s  methods.  Mr.  Julius  A. 
Dresser,  the  father  of  Horatio  W.  Dresser,  who  was 
in  constant  attendance  in  Dr.  Quimby’s  office,  loaned 
her  Vol.  I  of  Quimby’s  writings,  which  his  patients 
were  at  liberty  to  copy.  This  appears  in  the  present 
volume  (The  Quimby  Manuscripts)  under  the  caption 
of  “Christ  or  Science.”  She  also  had  the  privilege 
of  copying  a  manuscript  entitled  “Questions  and 
Answers,”  which  is  as  well  in  the  book  and  with  that 
title.  A  comparison  of  these  two  portions  of  the 
Quimby  teachings  with  her  own  (almost  word  for 
word  in  similarity)  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  Quimby 
authorship.  And  on  Quimby’s  death,  she  wrote  a  ful- 
healing  achievements.  Then  she  importuned  Mr 
some  eulogy,  in  a  well-expressed  poem,  extolling  his 


32  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Julius  A.  Dresser  to  take  up  Quimby's  work.  He  was 
indeed  qualified  to  do  so;  but  shrank  from  the  task. 
This  inspired  her  to  assume  what  a  less  venturesome 
person  would  have  hesitated  to  do — she  herself  would 
become  the  apostle  of  healing. 

She  imported  into  her  system  the  Swedenborgian 
mysticism  which  we  have  seen  was  characteristic  of 
Quimby.  Common-sense  folk  express  difficulty  in  un¬ 
derstanding  her.  She  did  not  intend  that  they  should. 
Her  passion  was  to  put  thought  into  such  a  mould  as 
to  suggest  the  very  occultism,  which  the  Pundita  Ram- 
abai  insists  stamps  her  system  as  occidentalized  Bud¬ 
dhism.  In  her  denial  of  the  essential  articles  of  the 
Christian  faith,  she  opened  the  door  to  swarms  of 
Jews,  who  find  in  her  cult  a  comfortable  religious  at¬ 
mosphere. 

Mr.  Daniel  H.  Spoffard,  at  one  time  her  business 
manager,  has  affirmed,  “So  far  as  my  personal  knowl¬ 
edge  goes,  I  never  knew  Mrs.  Eddy  to  heal  a  single 
patient.”  This  failure  was  her  star  of  destiny;  her 
pot  of  gold.  Had  she  been  successful  as  a  practitioner, 
she  would  have  been  embalmed  in  the  telephone  direc¬ 
tory  and  a  volume  of  testimonials.  The  spur  to  be  the 
apostle  of  a  new  religion  awakened  in  her  those  latent 
forces  of  unbridled  romance,  daring  adventure,  wild 
speculation  and  insistent  pursuit  for  fame  and  fortune, 
which  are  the  conspicuous  elements  of  her  unique  his¬ 
tory. 

And  that  she  did  not  take  all  of  her  material  from 
Quimby,  but  lent  to  her  enterprise  a  degree  of  origi¬ 
nality  in  working  over  his  idea,  enables  Mr.  George  A. 
Quimby  to  say,  “  The  religion  which  she  teaches  is  cer¬ 
tainly  hers,  for  which  I  cannot  be  too  thankful;  for  I 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


33 


should  be  loth  to  go  down  to  my  grave  feeling  that  my 
father  was  in  any  way  connected  with  ‘Christian 
Science’.” 

We  have  in  this  person  then,  a  being  under  the  guise 
of  the  God-appointed  revealer  of  Christianity  (for  she 
places  on  her  book  the  imprimatur  of  the  Apostle,  “I 
certify  you,  brethren,  that  the  gospel  which  was 
preached  of  me  was  not  after  man;  for  I  neither  re¬ 
ceived  it  of  man,  neither  was  I  taught  it  but  by  revela¬ 
tion  of  Jesus  Christ”)  who  holds  with  adroit  and 
diplomatic  hands  the  reins  of  truth,  manipulates  the 
keys  of  her  instrument  with  consummate  skill,  contra¬ 
dicts  all  the  conditions  which  have  ever  marked  God’s 
apostles,  and  dies  almost  deified  by  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  her  devotees. 

Christian  Science  leaders  and  lecturers  are  still  hug¬ 
ging  the  delusion  that  Mrs.  Eddy  received  a  revelation 
from  God.  And  they  base  their  assertion  upon  the 
memorable  February  3rd,  which  was  followed,  accord¬ 
ing  to  her  pretension,  by  the  three  year  retirement 
from  the  world  (matching  the  Apostle,  Gal.  1:18) 
when  she  waited  upon  God  for  the  fuller  disclosure  of 
the  divine  mind. 

The  cold  history  of  the  case,  as  disclosed  by  the  in¬ 
vestigations  of  Frederick  W.  Peabody  and  Georgine 
Milmine,  shatters  this  fabrication  into  flinders.  The 
respectable  people  of  Stoughton,  Mass.,  where  she 
lived  during  those  years,  allege  under  oath  that  while 
she  was  a  member  of  the  family  of  Hiram  Crafts  and 
later  of  Mrs.  Sally  Wentworth,  from  1867  to  1870,  she 
repeatedly  affirmed  that  what  she  was  teaching  was 
mental  science,  taught  her  by  Dr.  Quimby.  Her 
stereotyped  precision  and  affected  manner  as  she  de- 


34  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


dared  over  and  over  again,  “  I  learned  this  from  Dr. 
Quimby ;  and  he  made  me  promise  to  teach  it  to  at 
least  two  persons  before  I  die,”  are  indelibly  stamped 
on  the  memories  of  survivors. 

She  did  shut  herself  up  in  the  attic  room  in  Sally 
Wentworth’s  home  and  labored  for  months  arranging 
and  rearranging  the  Quimby  manuscripts,  putting  her 
own  touches  to  his  principles;  for  Mrs.  Wentworth 
avowed  that  she  was  wont  to  copy  Mrs.  Glover’s  writ¬ 
ings  each  day,  and  that  they  were  always  regarded  as 
the  expression  of  the  Quimby  idea.  And  members  of 
Mrs.  Wentworth’s  family  now  living  vouch  for  the 
accuracy  of  the  statement.  They  all  insist  that  Mrs. 
Glover  (the  name  by  which  she  went  at  that  time) 
never  claimed  for  herself  any  other  distinction  than 
that  she  was  endeavoring  to  be  a  messenger  to  man¬ 
kind  of  Quimby ’s  system. 

Even  after  she  went  to  Boston,  she  named  her  school 
the  Massachusetts  Metaphysical  College.  This  would 
at  least  bear  the  inference  that  the  founder  had  not  yet 
completely  gotten  to  the  assumption  of  a  revelation 
from  God.  In  sheer  pity  for  her,  we  may  charitably 
allow  that  the  religious  bud  did  not  fully  bloom  until 
her  pupils  urged  that  they  should  hear  her  discourse 
upon  her  inspiring  thoughts  on  Sundays,  and  give  to 
the  exercises  a  worshipful  atmosphere.  It  may  have 
been  through  this  turn  of  affairs  that  she  sighted  the 
alluring  possibilities  of  a  modern  interpretation  of 
Christianity,  through  an  assumedly  divine  inspiration. 
Catching  the  drift  of  the  new  therapeutics,  she  event¬ 
ually  averred  that  the  aching  world  had  been  patiently 
awaiting  this  heavenly  boon.  And  she  passionately 
flung  herself  into  the  current  of  promising  popularity 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


35 


and  acquisition.  In  doing  this,  she  ruthlessly  scrapped 
the  pages  of  her  humble  past,  and  all  who  were  con¬ 
cerned  in  it,  trampled  them  under  her  feet,  and  victori¬ 
ously  announced  her  apostleship.  So,  the  hallucination 
(if  it  be  not  an  invention)  of  her  disordered  brain,  is 
now  perpetuated  by  well-meaning  people,  who  have  not 
the  courage  to  seek  the  real  truth. 

Mrs.  Eddy’s  postulate  establishes  a  confusion  of 
thinking  and  experience,  which  is  really  her  stock  in 
trade.  Starting  with  God,  whom  she  calls  Principle, 
she  establishes  the  fundamental  idea  that  all  is  Mind, 
nothing  is  material.  God  and  His  ideas  (why  she  em¬ 
ploys  the  personal  pronoun  for  a  principle,  she  does 
not  explain)  constitute  all.  There  is  absolutely  nothing 
in  the  universe  but  Mind  and  that  one  Mind  is  God. 
Since  God  must  be  essentially  good,  there  can  be  no 
evil.  What  men  call  evil  is  but  the  “error  of  mortal 
mind.”  But  here  we  meet  the  confusion.  If  there  is 
but  one  Mind  and  that  Mind  is  good,  how  can  another 
mind  which  is  resultant,  and  united  to  that  Mind,  think 
evil  ?  She  gives  no  satisfactory  answer  to  this. 

The  acceptance  of  this  hypothesis,  however,  by  her 
devotees,  leads  to  confessed  Pantheism,  which  is  the 
scourge  of  India  and  the  foe  of  Christianity.  For 
Mrs.  Eddy  adduces  that  mortal  mind  is  illusion,  a  false 
belief.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  body  which  can  be 
sick.  There  is  no  such  being  as  a  person  who  can  sin. 
There  cannot  in  the  nature  of  the  case  be  any  repen¬ 
tance  for  sin,  any  forgiveness  of  sin.  Redemption, 
therefore,  as  classified  by  our  Lord  and  His  apostles, 
is  a  cumbersome  excrescence  on  the  religious  fabric. 

To  accomplish  this  phenomenal  feat,  consequently, 
she  invents  a  glossary  of  Scriptural  terms  which  are 


36  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


indeed  sui  generis.  She  needed  not  to  secure  a  copy¬ 
right;  for  no  venturesome  soul  would  ever  think  of 
imitating  it,  at  least  in  her  realm  of  experimentation. 
She  calls  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  “the  divine  manifesta¬ 
tion  of  God,  which  comes  to  the  flesh  to  destroy  in¬ 
carnate  error.”  But  as  her  system  denies  the  existence 
of  flesh,  since  all  is  mind  and  nothing  material,  the 
flesh  in  which  He  lived  must  have  been  an  illusion.  In 
substance  she  translates  Him  into  “God’s  most  beauti¬ 
ful  thought.”  And  she  leaves  Him  there  impotent  to 
work  any  salvation  for  a  lost  world,  since  there  is  no 
world  to  be  lost;  and  no  lostness  of  the  world  if  there 
were  one. 

We  are  quite  persuaded  that  the  rank  and  file  of 
Christian  Scientists  fail  to  see  these  subtleties,  being 
wholly  engrossed  in  the  healing  aspects  of  her  teach¬ 
ings.  Tests  have  been  made  with  those  who  have  pro¬ 
fessed  to  be  cultured  Scientists  and  invariably  they 
have  begged  the  question,  or  as  one  serenely  answered 
Dr.  Richard  L.  Swain,  when  the  Doctor  had  pro¬ 
pounded  an  involved  questionnaire  embracing  the  ra¬ 
tionale  of  Christian  Science,  “Where  ministers  and 
scholars  are  interested  in  Christian  Science,  it  is  quite 
best  they  should  think  out  such  points  for  themselves.” 
This  confirms  what  we  have  contended,  that  Mrs. 
Eddy  did  not  purpose  that  Christian  Science  should  be 
understood,  but  rather  that  it  should  mystify  and  thrill 
the  devotee  of  her  svstem  with  a  sense  of  its  inex- 
plicable  profundity. 

Now,  we  have  no  quarrel  with  anybody  who  wishes 
to  ride  a  metaphysical  hobby.  The  thinking  world  has 
room  for  all  sorts  of  freaks  and  rather  enjoys  their 
periodical  visitations,  But  when  a  woman  takes  into 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


37 


her  hands,  and  arrogates  to  herself  the  supreme  au¬ 
thority  to  interpret,  the  Word  of  God,  as  she  unblush- 
ingly  does;  when  she  avers  that  our  Lord  Jesus  para¬ 
lyzed  His  message  to  men  by  entertaining  the  thought 
of  death,  that  His  death  was  His  error  which  she  has 
been  commissioned  to  correct,  we  must  needs  defend 
Him  from  this  blasphemous  charge.  For  “the  faith  once 
for  all  delivered  to  the  saints”  which  cannot  be  abro¬ 
gated,  amended  or  improved,  defines  the  Son  of  God 
dying  to  save  a  world  lost  in  the  darkness  of  sin.  Her 
postulate  with  regard  to  our  dear  Lord  destroys  every 
vestige  of  hope  of  immortality  and  leaves  us  nothing 
but  that  dead  and  profitless  thing,  reincarnation. 

We  are  not  surprised  that  her  vaulting  ambition,  her 
supreme  selfishness,  her  queenly  autocracy,  her  sordid 
pursuit  of  wealth  should  arouse  in  some  of  her  fol¬ 
lowers  a  thoughtful  revision  of  her  claims.  The  stric¬ 
tures  she  imposed  upon  her  followers  inevitably  led  to 
an  alienation,  which  was  the  ground  of  the  New 
Thought  Movement. 

Her  repudiation  of  Quimby  fell  out  to  be  the  best 
thing  desirable  for  the  cherishing  of  his  memory.  For 
these  people  put  him  where  he  belongs  and  credit  him 
with  the  honor  to  which  he  is  justly  entitled.  He  is  by 
them  termed  the  Father  of  New  Thought.  And  they 
consistently  pursue  the  lines  of  thinking  which  he  laid 
down. 

And  if  Mrs.  Eddy  was  the  exponent  of  imperialism, 
she  being  the  empress,  this  body  of  thinkers  has  es¬ 
tablished  a  democracy  of  cordial  interchange  of 
thought  and  opinion.  She  restricted  her  teachers  to 
the  sphere  of  readers,  since  she  could  brook  no  inva- 


38  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


sion  of  her  sovereignty  in  the  realm  of  interpretation. 
I  have  before  me  the  text  book  of  New  Thought  en¬ 
titled,  “The  Spirit  of  the  New  Thought.”  While  edited 
by  Horatio  W.  Dresser,  an  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
movement  at  the  present  time,  fourteen  or  more 
writers  express  their  definition  of  the  school.  Mr. 
Dresser  carefully  harmonizes  the  differences  of  view 
while  according  to  all  their  right  to  express  individual 
convictions.  Some  call  the  system  a  philosophy,  others 
believe  it  is  a  religion;  some  deny  that  it  is  a  cult, 
others  claim  that  it  is  essentially  such. 

A  few  of  the  definitions  from  this  book  may  indicate 
the  trend  of  thinking.  “New  Thought  is  not  new;  it 
is  the  oldest  thing  in  the  world.”  “New  Thought  is 
the  new  way  of  thinking  about  man,  God  and  thought 
itself.”  “All  life  is  one  and  man  is  the  expression  of 
that  life,  the  fountain-head  or  first  cause  of  which  is 
Universal  Energy — God.”  “This  force  is  common 
property  as  soon  as  men  know  how  to  claim  and  appro¬ 
priate  their  own  (force)  from  this  Universal  Source.” 
The  New  Thought  Alliance  defines  its  purpose  as  “To 
teach  the  Infinitude  of  the  Supreme  One ;  the  Divinity 
of  Man  and  His  Infinite  Possibilities.” 

Mr.  Henry  Wood  repudiates  Mrs.  Eddy’s  philoso¬ 
phy  that  “All-is-spirit ;  nothing  is  matter.”  He  con¬ 
tends  that  “matter  in  its  proper  place  is  good  and  use¬ 
ful.”  The  Metaphysical  Club  in  its  statement  of  be¬ 
lief  defines  New  Thought  as  standing  for  “The  prac¬ 
tice  of  the  presence  of  God  reduced  to  a  scientific 
method  of  living  an  unselfish  life  through  union  in 
thought  with  a  power  that  is  Jove  in  action ;  to  draw 
out  the  best  that  is  in  humanity  to  bring  sweetness  and 
light  and  peace  into  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


39 


of  people;  to  rob  death  of  its  sting  and  pain  of  its 
poignancy;  to  take  terror  from  disease  by  proving  its 
powerlessness;  to  crown  the  life  with  joy  and  health, 
and  the  abundance  which  are  the  rightful  inheritance 
of  every  child  of  God.” 

“New  Thought  offers  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
to  members  of  every  religious  denomination.  Free  to 
seek  instruction  and  inspiration  in  the  scriptures  of  all 
ages  and  peoples  (italics  ours),  it  has  also  a  large  and 
increasing  literature  of  its  own.”  The  catholicity  of 
the  movement  is  winsome.  It  must  appeal  to  many 
loosely  attached  Christians  who  have  not  been 
grounded  in  the  Faith.  For  this  sort  of  comprehen¬ 
siveness  may  be  heard  in  many  professedly  Christian 
pulpits.  And  those  who  enter  this  cult  receive  what 
they  seek.  Confessedly,  the  cold  atmosphere  of  their 
former  church  affiliations  is  recalled  in  contrast  with 
the  warming  and  energizing  potentialities  of  the  newly- 
found  belief  and  practice. 

There  is  a  wholesome  solidarity  in  the  movement 
which  binds  the  members  in  a  glad  association.  The 
daily  period  of  silence  when  there  is  projected  by  each 
member  into  the  body  as  a  whole,  the  thought  of 
“peace,  prosperity  and  power”  is  a  strong  challenge  to 
the  Church  of  the  Living  God,  divided  by  schisms  and 
torn  by  animosities. 

These  people  rebuke  the  trend  of  thousands  of  pro¬ 
fessing  Christians  who  hover  like  ghouls  over  every 
calamity,  to  retail  and  detail  all  the  gruesome  char¬ 
acteristics  which  it  discloses ;  who  are  perpetually  talk¬ 
ing  about  their  aches  and  pains,  their  langour  and 
lassitude,  their  sufferings  and  sorrows.  Our  very  man¬ 
ner  of  salutation  is  a  depression  to  us.  “How  do  you 


40  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


do  ?”  is  a  constant  suggestion  that  we  think  of  our  feel¬ 
ings.  This,  the  New  Thought  people  believe  we  should 
not  do. 

There  is  a  pleasing  universality  in  these  systems.  We 
have  noted  that  hordes  of  Jews  are  flocking  into  Chris¬ 
tian  Science.  Are  they  converted  to  the  Lord  Jesus  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  New  Testament  standard?  When  New 
Thought  defines  itself  as  resting  upon  “the  foundation 
of  a  tolerance  as  broad  as  that  inculcated  in  the  Vedas,” 
it  unites  what  God  has  forever  divorced.  The  religion 
of  the  Vedas  was  operative  in  the  days  of  our  Lord  and 
His  apostles.  They  were  not  ignorant  of  its  existence 
and  spirit.  As  they  refused  to  recognize  it,  we  may 
not,  who  would  walk  in  their  steps.  St.  Paul  knew  that 
he  had  only  to  blend  Grecian  gnosticism  with  the 
mysteries  of  the  Vedas,  to  obtain  that  tolerance  which 
would  have  made  him  the  popular  preacher  of  Corinth. 
But  he  weighed  the  truth  and  “determined  to  know 
nothing  among  the  Corinthians  but  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified”  (I  Cor.  2:3).  If  all  that  is  needful  in 
mankind  everywhere,  is  to  appropriate  this  Universal 
Life,  without  repentance  of  sin  and  the  concomitant 
requirements  of  the  New  Testament,  then  any  Hindoo, 
Turk,  professing  Christian  or  rank  infidel  may  be¬ 
come  a  member  of  this  universal  brotherhood.  We 
do  not  object  to  the  brotherhood  tie  of  the  whole  hu¬ 
man  race;  but  to  drag  our  Lord  Jesus  into  the  error 
and  degrade  JHis  clear  teachings,  becomes  a  crime. 

The  door  into  divine  sonship  is  unqualifiedly  stated 
in  the  New  Testament.  They  only  are  the  spiritual 
children  of  God  who  have  received  the  Lord  Jesus  into 
their  lives;  who  have  been  born  again  by  the  Holy 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


41 


Spirit  of  God  and  through  the  operation  of  the  Word 
of  God  (John  1:12,  13;  3:3,  5.  Titus  3:5,  6.  I  Peter 
1:23).  The  apostolic  message  differentiated  between 
unsaved  sinners  and  redeemed  saints.  The  former  are 
yet  in  their  sins ;  the  latter  are  saved  “through  the  re¬ 
demption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.”  We  can  see  no  al¬ 
ternate  position.  But  the  fundamental  postulate  of 
redemption  is  that  sin  has  been  put  away  by  the  Son 
of  God  on  the  Cross.  These  cults  deny  sin.  It  is  to 
their  votaries  “error  of  mortal  mind,”  “absence  of 
harmony.”  God  calls  it  by  its  hideous  title  and  deals 
with  it  as  a  thing  to  be  met  and  conquered  by  the 
tragedy  of  Calvary.  This  point  alone  should  deter¬ 
mine  the  anti-Christian  character  of  these  modern  per¬ 
versions. 

The  most  conspicuous  phase  of  the  movement  lies 
in  the  claim  that  God  is  impersonal.  Terms  are  em¬ 
ployed  which  would  seem  to  recognize  personality  in 
the  Deity,  while  definitions  are  plainly  stated  which 
contradict  that  concept.  We  are  aware  that  the  finite 
mind  is  incapable  of  comprehending  the  personality  of 
Infinitude.  And  so  long  as  these  companies  confine 
themselves  to  philosophic  and  scientific  realms,  as 
some  of  their  writers  do,  we  cannot  deny  them  the 
privilege  of  questioning  a  truth  which  has  been  held 
throughout  all  the  ages  of  Christianity  with  implicit 
confidence.  It  is  when  they  arrogate  to  themselves  the 
authority  to  present  a  new  interpretation  of  Christian¬ 
ity  that  we  strenuously  oppose  them. 

1.  If  God  is  not  a  Person,  the  constant  protests  of 
the  prophets  against  Baal  worship  were  needless.  For 
an  impersonal  principle  (such  as  God  is  ascribed  to 
be)  could  have  no  word  of  reproach  which  should  be 


42  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


the  fire  of  the  prophetic  errand.  But  the  word 
“Jehovah,”  which  was  always  associated  with  the 
prophetical  protests,  is  declarative  of  personality. 

2.  The  distinct  mission  of  our  Lord  Jesus  was  to 
establish  the  personality  of  His  Father.  We  may 
dwell  upon  the  wonderful  statement  in  Matt.  1 1 127. 
“No  man  knoweth  the  Son,  but  the  Father;  neither 
knoweth  any  man  the  Father  save  the  Son  and  he  to 
whom  the  Son  will  reveal  Him.”  The  very  essence  of 
eternal  life,  which  He  claimed  He  came  to  secure  for 
a  lost  world,  is  “to  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom 
God  has  sent”  (John  17:3).  The  ideal  of  the  divine 
Fatherhood  is  the  union  of  God  with  His  redeemed 
children. 

3.  The  denial  of  the  personality  of  God  robs  Him 
of  the  ascribed  attributes  of  mercy  with  which  the 
Word  of  God  crowns  Him.  For  an  impersonal  prin¬ 
ciple  cannot  be  embraced  in  the  marvelous  record  of 
Eph.  2 :4,  “But  God  who  is  rich  in  his  mercy,  for  his 
great  love,  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were 
dead  in  sins*”  The  constantly  reiterated  phrases,  “the 
love  of  God,”  “the  grace  of  God”  have  no  place  in 
the  administration  of  a  god  that  has  no  personality. 
It  is  amazing  how  these  sincere  souls  can  take  the  New 
Testament  into  their  hands  and  so  completely  pervert 
its  evident  message. 

4.  An  impersonal  principle  cannot  hear  the  prayer 
of  a  penitent ;  nor  can  there  be  joy  in  its  presence  over 
“one  sinner  that  repenteth”  (Luke  15:10).  To  be 
sure,  there  is  no  sin,  according  to  the  teaching,  of 
which  to  repent.  Our  Lord  announced  that  He  had 
come  to  seek  and  save  the  lost  (Luke  19:10),  to  give 
His  life  a  ransom  for  many  (Matt.  20:28),  but  if  He 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


43 


merely  labored  to  disabuse  men’s  minds  of  the  exis¬ 
tence  of  sin,  how  can  we  reconcile  the  New  Testament 
facts  with  this  specious  reasoning? 

5.  If  God  is  a  principle,  He  cannot  have  pleasure  in 
conferring  His  blessings  upon  His  children.  Why 
should  our  Lord  challenge  the  faith  of  His  hearers, 
“If  ye  being  evil  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask 
him,”  if  an  impersonal  principle  is  the  object  ap¬ 
proached  ?  The  embarrassment  would  seem  ridiculous, 
if  it  were  not  so  tragic. 

6.  An  impersonal  principle  cannot  receive  the 
thankful  praise  of  those  who  do  obtain  good  gifts; 
for  such  a  god  cannot  hear,  nor  think,  nor  love,  nor 
appreciate  the  gratitude  of  those  who  think  that 
through  it  blessings  have  come.  How  sadly  would  the 
true  child  of  God  reconstruct  his  method  of  worship  ! 
We  grow  strong  in  faith,  in  affection,  in  loyalty  by 
the  very  things  which  call  forth  the  “Praise  the  Lord, 
O  my  soul.”  But  a  dead,  dull  apotheosis  of  an  unfeel¬ 
ing  ideal  is  all  that  is  left  us  in  this  new  interpretation 
of  Christianity. 

7.  In  such  a  system  of  thought,  there  is  no  place  for 
the  refining  of  the  child  of  God.  For  a  principle  can 
have  no  concern  in  the  purification  of  the  life  and  na¬ 
ture.  Indeed,  there  is  a  subtle  strain  of  repugnance  to 
the  Biblical  doctrine  of  chastisement,  which  is  so  con¬ 
stantly  declared  within  the  sacred  pages  by  these  good 
people,  who  think  they  have  a  better  Christianity  than 
their  fathers  possessed.  Those  of  us,  who  have  known 
God  in  the  fire,  and  have  learned  to  sing  our  songs  in 
the  night,  would  not  for  any  earthly  substitute  sur- 


44  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

render  the  blessing  we  received  through  its  purifying 
processes. 

8.  The  fellowship  of  God  with  redeemed  humanity, 
as  established  by  our  Lord  and  experienced  by  the 
believers  of  the  New  Testament  history,  has  no  part 
in  the  life  of  these  deluded  souls.  If  they  can  per¬ 
suade  themselves  that  a  principle  can  be  so  idealized 
as  to  become  by  the  processes  of  thinking  as  real  as 
a  person,  something  might  be  attained.  But  there  can 
be  no  comfort  in  such  a  mental  configuration.  Against 
it  we  might  place  the  well-known  words,  “Our  fellow¬ 
ship  is  with  the  Father  and  with  His  Son,  Jesus 
Christ.”  Is  not  the  old  way  the  better? 

9.  The  Holy  Communion,  by  which  we  show  forth 
the  Lord’s  death  until  Jle  come  (I  Cor.  11 126)  is  ab¬ 
sent  from  these  systems.  For  there  is  no  one  with 
whom  to  commune,  save  the  humans  about  us;  there 
is  no  death  to  commemorate,  since  there  is  no  sin 
which  made  that  death  a  necessity.  And  the  “blessed 
hope”  of  our  Lord’s  return  which  burned  in  the 
breasts  of  the  first  Christians,  must  be  relegated  to  the 
scrap-heap  as  a  fantastic  Jewish  delusion. 

10.  The  future  life,  which  is  the  distinctive  New 
Testament  note,  around  which  so  many  precious 
promises  encircle,  is  not  found  in  this  philosophy  of 
an  impersonal  god.  The  only  resultant  conclusion  that 
is  possible  becomes  the  Buddhistic  fatalism  which  em¬ 
braces  Karma  and  the  reincarnation  of  Theosophy. 
The  Christian  Scientist,  the  New  Thoughtist  do  not 
cry  in  their  ecstasy  of  expectation,  “I  have  a  desire 
to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ.”  They  do  not  say  of 
those  who  have  gone,  “they  are  ‘absent  from  the  body’ 
but  ‘present  with  the  Lord’.”  And  for  a  good  reason. 


THE  LURE  OF  ALIEN  VOICES 


45 


These  cults  are  not  a  religion  at  all;  they  merely  set 
forth  an  attempted  scientific  explanation  of  life.  Chris¬ 
tian  faith  on  the  contrary,  lives  here  as  preparatory 
to  the  larger  life  which  is  to  come. 

There  is  a  flaw  in  these  systems  which  only  the  keen- 
scented  believer  may  detect.  Once  the  personality  of 
God  is  eliminated  from  the  moral  realm,  doubtful  mo¬ 
tives  and  practices  may  flood  the  life.  We  must  not 
forget  that  this  teaching  is  the  curse  of  India;  and 
has  been  pronounced  rotten  by  an  influential  editor 
in  that  land.  Caste,  child-marriage  and  its  attendant 
horrors,  the  suttee ,  which,  though  forbidden  by 
English  law,  is  still  ingrained  in  the  life  of  the  race, 
have  blunted  the  spiritual  apprehension  of  the  victims 
of  the  perversion. 

These  special  manifestations  may  not  invade  the 
circles  of  Occidental  devotees;  but  there  is  grave  dan¬ 
ger  of  the  arising  of  parallel  evils.  Where  there  is  no 
moral  responsibility  which  derives  its  vision  and  in¬ 
spiration  from  the  recognition  of  a  personal  God,  the 
door  of  laxity  in  those  things  which  we  have  been 
taught  to  esteem  most  sacred,  may  all  too  easily  open. 
Some  of  us  know  with  painful  experience,  of  instances 
which  prove  the  need  of  this  warning. 

We  plead  that  devout  lovers  of  our  Lord  and  of  His 
truth  shall  qualify  themselves  to  meet  this  widely 
spreading  propaganda,  which  is  sapping  our  churches 
and  robbing  us  of  precious  souls.  Let  us  be  ready  to 
save  from  peril  of  perdition,  those  who  are  on  the 
verge  of  entering  these  false  religions.  Looking  away 
from  Calvary,  the  ground  of  their  redemption,  they 
are  being  allured  into  the  by-ways  of  health  for  their 
bodies,  peace  for  their  minds  and  prosperity  in  their 


46  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


temporal  matters,  unconsciously  forgetful  of  that  su¬ 
preme  moment  when  they  will  be  called  to  lay  down 
their  lives  here,  all  unprepared  for  the  coming  day, 
sin-burdened,  conscience-smitten,  unreconciled,  find¬ 
ing  alas,  that  they  have  surrendered  a  vital  faith  in  a 
living  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  exchanged  their  blood- 
bought  and  eternal  inheritance  for  a  mess  of  earthly 
pottage. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  THE  CHURCHES. 


The  Church  has  ever  been  conservative.  All  move¬ 
ments  which  have  quickened  and  inspired  its  life  have 
originated  with  individuals.  The  watchmen  on  the 
walls  of  Zion  have  had  little  sympathy  from  those 
whom  they  guarded,  unless  they  were  wont  to  utter 
with  complacency,  the  desired  sentence,  “All’s  well.” 
An  enlarged  vision  has  always  been  greeted  with  sus¬ 
picion. 

Dr.  Cullis,  in  his  day,  received  scant  recognition 
from  the  Church,  save  as  criticism  or  condemnation 
fell  from  the  lips  of  those  whom  he  would  gladly  have 
aided.  Dr.  Dowie,  brooking  no  opposition,  rather 
courted  persecution,  purposefully  pouring  oil  upon  the 
flames  of  detraction  which  burst  about  him.  Dr. 
Simpson  so  graciously  endured  the  adverse  opinions 
of  men  that  they  eventually  found  little  ground  for 
disturbing  him. 

Dr.  Dowie  alone  of  these  three  men,  conceived  the 
plan  of  a  new  church  separating  those  who  attended 
upon  his  ministry,  from  the  Christian  bodies  from 
which  they  had  come.  Those  who  studied  his  mes¬ 
sage  and  methods  could  but  anticipate  this  as  the  in¬ 
evitable  result.  Dr.  Cullis  did  not  found  a  church. 
And  Dr.  Simpson  long  labored  to  serve  the  Church 
by  deepening  the  spiritual  life  of  its  members.  Had 
the  Church  been  wise,  his  heart-longing  would  have 
brought  to  it  a  wealth  of  life  and  devotion.  But  an- 

47 


48  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


tagonistic  pastors  and  uncharitable  parishioners  readily 
froze  out  the  consecrated  Christians  who  had  descried 
a  new  land  of  promise  and  possibility.  So  that  in  time, 
he  was  compelled  to  form  a  congregation  to  shepherd 
these  outcasts  of  Zion. 

The  fruit  of  this  decision  of  Dr.  Simpson  is  now 
seen  in  the  well-ordered  Gospel  Tabernacle  in  New 
York  City;  and  in  the  various  tabernacles  and  Four¬ 
fold  Gospel  Churches  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the 
Union.  The  almost  unbroken  series  of  Conventions, 
held  by  the  leaders  of  the  Christian  and  Missionary 
Alliance,  not  only  feed  these  churches  (and  where 
there  are  not  churches,  numerous  prayer  circles  are 
weekly  convened)  but  afford  ground  for  the  organizing 
of  new  churches,  dedicated,  as  has  already  been  noted, 
to  the  Four-fold  Gospel.  And  in  addition  to  building 
up  these  distinctive  centers,  created  and  fostered  by 
the  Alliance  conventions,  these  gatherings  are  made 
channels  of  blessing  to  large  numbers  of  hungry  hearts 
in  all  the  churches;  thus  fulfilling  the  purpose  of  the 
Alliance  as  an  interdenominational  society,  seeking  a 
broader  field  than  its  own  organized  churches  and 
branches.  So  that  we  are  able  to  state  that  all  over 
the  land  (and  in  some  parts  of  Canada)  there  is  at 
present  a  church,  apostolic  in  practice  and  missionary 
in  spirit,  which  does  hold  to  the  ministry  of  healing. 
Its  evangelists  are  at  times  urged  by  the  people  and 
constrained  in  their  hearts  to  supplement  the  message 
of  salvation  by  special  teaching  on  healing.  The  re¬ 
sults  of  these  ministries  are  variously  estimated.  The 
jubilant  testimony  swelling  from  the  now  popularly- 
known  Bosworth  meetings  is  mingled  with  the  criti¬ 
cism  of  those  who  seek  and  find  evident  failure  and 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  49 


disappointment.  So  long  as  human  factors  contribute 
to  both  faith  and  skepticism,  this  will  be.  We  may 
not  discuss  it.  Our  present  motive  is  merely  to  set 
forth  the  demand  of  the  people  for  a  healing  mission; 
and  that  this  organization  is  committed  by  its  consti¬ 
tution  to  meet  that  demand  by  methods  consistent  with 
the  Word  of  God. 

Every  judicious  observer,  charitably  disposed,  must 
allow  that  to  eliminate  from  the  Christian  and  Mis¬ 
sionary  Alliance  its  healing  features,  would  be  to  re¬ 
verse  the  current  Dr.  Simpson  so  devoutly  set  in  motion. 
And  its  now  consecrated  leader,  who  has  himself  ex¬ 
perienced  the  power  of  God  in  his  own  body  will  not 
suffer  this  special  service  to  the  children  of  God  to 
fail.  For  Paul  Rader  is  a  man  of  keen  vision  and  pro¬ 
found  conviction;  he  too  sacredly  realizes  the  weight 
of  the  mantle  that  has  fallen  upon  his  shoulders,  to  re¬ 
gard  with  lightness  the  responsibility  he  holds  before 
God  to  keep  the  charge  committed  to  him. 

Inquiries  put  to  the  leaders  of  the  various  Christian 
communions  have  elicited  the  information  that  the 
Anglican  Church,  embracing  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States,  is  the  only  branch  that  is  seeking 
to  restore  the  apostolic  practice  of  anointing  the  sick 
and  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  healing.  The  Roman 
Church  does  administer  “extreme  unction.”  But  that 
anointing  is  for  death ;  and  given  only  when  hope  of 
recovery  has  evidently  vanished. 

In  this  historical  healing  movement,  members  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  have  been  foremost  in  supporting  it. 
Both  Dr.  Cullis  and  Dr.  Simpson  reckoned  them 
among  their  most  devoted  friends. 


50  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


The  services  of  the  Episcopal  Church  are  distinctly 
articulated  by  suggestions  of  the  impartation  of  health 
and  healing  by  the  Lord  in  answer  to  prayer.  Trained 
Churchmen  are  lovers  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
readily  yield  to  His  revealed  will.  Accustomed  to  the 
familiar  exhortation  to  prayer,  where  are  the  words, 
“and  to  ask  those  things  which  are  requisite  and 
necessary  as  well  for  the  body  as  the  soul,”  and  in  the 
service  of  the  Holy  Communion  and  in  the  various 
collects,  combined  with  Holy  Scriptures,  to  hear  the 
body  exalted  to  the  realm  of  divine  care,  once  the  at¬ 
tention  is  directed  to  the  Lord  as  the  life  of  the  body, 
they  cordially  respond  to  the  truth  of  healing.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Wilson,  of  sainted  memory,  remain¬ 
ing  to  the  close  of  his  life  a  minister  of  the  Church, 
sought  to  teach  Episcopalians,  wherever  he  met  them  in 
the  consecrated  service  he  rendered  the  Christian  and 
Missionary  Alliance,  that  all  that  the  Alliance  pro¬ 
claims  is  within  the  covers  of  the  Prayer  Book. 

The  Report  of  the  Commission  to  Consider  the 
Fuller  Recognition  of  the  Ministry  of  Healing,  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  recent  General  Convention  of  the  Epis¬ 
copal  Church  reads  as  follows : 

“  Your  commission  confidently  reaffirms  these 
propositions : 

“  That  God  has  infinite  blessings  of  power  in  store 
for  those  who  seek  them  by  prayer,  communion  and 
active  trust;  that  both  the  clergy  and  the  laity  of  the 
Church  have  too  often  failed  to  turn  to  God  with  such 
complete  trust  as  will  draw  those  powers  into  full 
service ;  that  Christ  still  fulfils,  in  Christian  experi¬ 
ence,  His  power  to  give  life  and  to  give  it  more 
abundantly ;  that  the  faith  which  realizes  His  presence 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  51 


is  capable  of  creating  a  heightened  vitality  of  spirit 
which  strengthens  and  sustains  the  health  of  the  body ; 
that  the  body,  no  less  than  the  spirit  of  man,  was  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  work  of  redemption ;  that  the  restoration 
of  harmony  of  man’s  mind  and  will,  with  the  divine 
will,  often  brings  with  it  the  restoration  of  the  body ; 
that  the  full  power  of  the  Church’s  corporate  interces¬ 
sion  in  this  connection  has  been  too  little  realized,  and 
that  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  for  restoration 
of  health  has  not  been  sufficiently  encouraged. 

“  Here,  then,  is  the  first  great  need  of  the  Church 
today  in  the  revival  of  the  ministry  of  healing.  She 
must  renew  and  act  more  confidently  and  constantly 
on  her  faith  in  the  power  of  prayer  .  .  .  and  es¬ 
pecially  in  the  power  of  her  corporate  intercession 
.  .  .,  whatever  the  means  of  process  by  which  the 
blessing  comes.” 

The  Province  of  the  Pacific  presented  the  following 
memorial  to  the  Convention : 

“  Resolved :  That  the  Church  urge  upon  its  Clergy 
and  Laity  the  recognition  of  the  following  funda¬ 
mental  principles  of  Christian  Healing, 

“(1)  That  all  healing,  whether  of  body,  mind  or 
spirit,  is  divine  in  its  character,  and  is  the  resultant  of 
the  life-giving  Spirit  of  God. 

“(2)  That  distinctively  Christian  healing  is  the 
manifestation  of  that  life  through  Christ,  who  hath  life 
abiding  in  Him,  and  who  quickeneth  whom  He  will. 

“(3)  That  this  life  may  operate  indirectly  through 
the  healing  agencies  revealed  to  man  in  the  science  of 
material  medicine  and  surgery,  or  directly  in  response 
to  prayer  and  faith. 

“(4.)  That  these  agencies  are  complementary  in 


52  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


their  nature,  the  healing  life  of  God  operating  in  and 
through  them  and  lifting  all  processes  of  healing  to 
the  plane  of  the  Divine. 

“(5)  That  Jesus  Christ  in  the  midst  of  the  sacra¬ 
ments  and  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  the  same  yester¬ 
day  and  today  and  forever,  is  the  medium  of  contact 
with  that  healing  and  redeeming  life,  forgiving  the  sin 
and  healing  the  infirmities  of  believers.,, 

In  the  other  communions,  the  advance  of  Christian 
Science  and  kindred  cults  has  compelled  a  modifica¬ 
tion  of  intolerance,  through  a  forced  readjustment  of 
focus.  So  many  are  being  drawn  from  the  churches, 
and  they  uniformly  of  the  best  material,  that  a  counter 
movement  has  become  necessary.  How  to  meet  the 
situation  has  become  a  problem  of  amazing  proportion 
and  perplexity.  The  thing  that  has  been  impugned,  now 
commands  attention.  Prudence  sits  on  the  seat  where 
scorn  had  ruled.  The  clergy  and  their  flocks  are 
blending  in  mutual  concern  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Church  from  the  evil  of  schism.  And  at  present  writ¬ 
ing,  there  may  be  found  all  over  the  Christian  world, 
the  recognition  of  healing  as  a  part  of  the  Christian 
experience.  It  is  not  always  taught  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner.  Psychotherapy  mingles  with  the  promises  of  God, 
at  times ;  and  spiritual  clinics  may  be  found  more  de¬ 
voted  to  intellectual  processes  than  to  the  exaltation 
of  the  faith.  But  for  that  a  decision  has  been  reached 
and  that  some  measure  of  response  has  been  given  to 
the  appeal  of  the  people  for  a  place  for  God  in  their 
physical  lives,  we  may  be  grateful. 

However,  to  endorse  without  modification  the  pre¬ 
vailing  psychological  methods  would  commit  us  to 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  53 


what  we  are  bound  to  regard  as  untrue  to  the  spirit 
and  method  of  the  New  Testament.  While  we  may 
love  and  praise  the  men  who  are  unselfishly  seeking 
to  bring  health  and  gladness  into  other  lives,  we  must 
ask  that  the  imprimatur  of  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  be 
the  ground  of  acceptance. 

Shall  we  relegate  the  incurables  to  utter  helplessness 
and  devote  ourselves  exclusively  to  the  neurotics,  the 
while  claiming  to  reproduce  the  work  of  our  Lord? 
This  did  not  He.  Shall  we  classify  faith  and  modern 
psychological  research  in  the  same  card  index?  When 
Dr.  Samuel  McComb  asserts  that  “the  gift  of  tongues 
was  a  mysterious  psychological  phenomenon ;  and  that 
the  phenomenon  was  the  profound  upheaval  of  the 
subconsciousness  element  of  mind”  he  may  be  trans¬ 
lating  New  Testament  experience  into  the  modern 
nomenclature,  but  we  may  well  wonder  if  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  Pentecost  is  in  accord  with  the  definition. 
Are  “crystal  gazing,”  “suggestion,”  “hypnotism”  to  be 
ranked  with  the  faith  which  our  Lord  Jesus  enjoined 
and  extolled  ?  Will  a  rationalistic  explanation  of  faith 
produce  the  works  of  faith?  Will  the  philosophy  of 
prayer  equal  the  dynamics  of  prayer?  We  contend 
that  to  reduce  faith  and  prayer  to  psychological  analy¬ 
sis  is  to  sap  both  of  the  divinely  promised  potency. 

A  beloved  brother  in  the  Lord  was  found  possessed, 
in  his  college  days,  of  the  hypnotic  power.  Once  after 
his  ordination,  he  was  visiting  a  city  in  which  a  former 
fellow-student  was  a  pastor.  For  old-times  sake,  he 
went  to  the  Sunday  morning  service,  sitting  in  the  con¬ 
gregation.  His  friend  espied  him  through  the  crack 
of  the  almost  closed  door  of  his  vestry.  Sending  the 
sexton  for  him,  he  confessed  that  he  had  not  slept 


54  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


during  the  night,  and  begged  that  he  would  put  him 
to  sleep  for  five  minutes.  Making  the  usual  passes 
over  him,  my  friend  said,  “You  will  waken  in  time 
to  begin  your  service  as  fresh  as  though  you  had  en¬ 
joyed  the  slumbers  of  a  whole  night/’  And  so  it  came 
to  pass.  He  officiated  with  a  freedom  which  was  a 
joy  to  him.  When  I  asked  my  friend,  “Why  do  you 
not  do  that  now  ?”  he  instantly  replied,  “God  forbid ; 
not  since  I  have  received  the  Holy  Spirit  into  my  heart 
and  life.”  This  answer  covers  the  entire  field  we  are 
discussing.  All  the  factors  which  are  embraced  in  the 
systems  which  exalt  intellectual  methods  are  foreign, 
yea,  antagonistic  to  the  Spirit  of  God ;  even  as  we  may 
see  in  the  attitude  of  the  Apostle  in  his  statement  of 
I  Cor.  2 : 14,  “  The  psychical  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him;  neither  can  he  know  them,  for  they  are 
spiritually  discerned.”  Let  us  have  a  fear,  lest  robbing 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  of  His  sovereign  rights,  we 
deny  the  God  we  think  we  are  serving. 

The  movement  in  the  Anglican  communion  re¬ 
ceives  impulse  from  two  outstanding  personalities. 
The  Rev.  Henry  B.  Wilson,  founder  and  director  of 
the  Order  of  the  Nazarene,  in  the  United  States;  and 
Mr.  James  Moore  Hickson,  of  the  Church  of  England, 
whose  labors  have  been  world-wide. 

Mr.  Wilson  has  built  up  such  a  constituency  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  that  he  is  in  demand  for  healing 
missions  all  over  the  country.  The  intense  pressure 
under  which  he  works,  and  the  phenomenal  amount  of 
work  he  does  make  proof  that  the  truth  he  pleads  for 
has  a  vital  grasp  upon  his  own  life. 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  55 


He  has  written  “The  Revival  of  the  Gift  of  Heal¬ 
ing,”  “Does  Christ  Still  Heal?”  and  “The  Power  to 
Heal,”  besides  numberless  pamphlets  combined  with 
the  issues  of  “The  Nazarene,”  his  monthly  paper.  The 
testimonies  that  come  from  his  efforts  are  abounding 
in  grateful  recognition,  that  not  only  the  bodies,  but  the 
spiritual  experiences  of  those  to  whom  he  has  minis¬ 
tered  have  become  enriched.  It  were  but  just  to  inter¬ 
pose  here  that  as  the  people  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
were  among  the  most  ardent  supporters  of  Dr.  Simp¬ 
son,  so  the  influence  of  the  Christian  Alliance  has  per¬ 
vaded  the  spiritual  atmosphere  to  the  degree  that  when 
a  man  of  Mr.  Wilson’s  position  and  conviction  makes 
his  appeal,  that  influence  gives  him  ready  hearers  in  his 
own  communion.  For  many  Episcopalians  have  long 
read  Alliance  literature. 

Some  of  Mr.  Wilson’s  pronouncements  command 
attention.  He  declares  that  “the  doctrine  that  sickness 
and  disease  are  sent  of  God  as  loving  correction  has 
had  much  to  do  with  the  decay  of  the  ministry  of  heal¬ 
ing.”  Again,  “The  faith  that  endures  suffering  as  from 
God,  and  of  higher  value  than  the  faith  which  seeks 
healing  at  the  hand  of  God  in  accordance  with  Christ’s 
promise,  is  contrary  to  the  Gospel ;  for  it  is  utterly  at 
variance  with  the  teaching  of  Christ,  and  the  value  He 
placed  upon  the  faith  which  inspired  men  and  women 
to  reach  to  Him  for  healing.  He  did  not  make  light 
of  it.  He  gave  it  the  highest  praise.”  This  trenchant 
challenge  deserves  and  demands  sincere  thinking  by 
those  who  are  fondly  embracing  their  sicknesses  and 
incapacities,  with  the  cultivated  resignation  that  they 
are  suffering  according  to  the  will  of  God. 

But  Mr.  Wilson  goes  further,  “Our  Lord  did  not 


56  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


commend  patierit  suffering  as  from  God,  amongst 
those  who  appealed  to  Him  even  mutely.  He  rebuked 
disease  as  proceeding  from  a  source  antagonistic  to 
His  Father,  who  had  anointed  Him  for  this  very  mis- 
sion.,,  Again  he  says,  “Disease  is  no  more  the  expres¬ 
sion  of  the  will  of  God  than  sin  is  the  will  of  God.” 
“The  man  who  turns  to  God  in  his  pain,  does  it  not 
because  he  has  been  punished  by  a  loving  Father,  but 
because  he  has  been  struck  by  an  enemy.” 

The  ministry  of  this  devoted  servant  of  God  is 
adapted  to  “all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.”  Where 
he  finds  that  faith  is  not  adequate  to  stand  alone,  he 
offers  the  rite  of  anointing,  with  prayer,  combined 
with  what  means  may  be  employed.  He  believes  that 
with  the  growth  of  this  teaching,  and  with  the  increase 
of  God-given  faith  and  true  spirituality,  the  use  of 
means  will  “be  reduced  to  the  vanishing  point,”  where 
he  thinks  all  conscientious  physicians  would  like  to  see 
it.  Still,  Mr.  Wilson  advocates  the  study  of  physiology, 
hygiene  and  sanitation;  and  he  admonishes  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Order  of  the  Nazarene  to  “pray  frequently 
for  common  sense.” 

In  the  revival  which  is  spreading  in  the  Episcopal 
Church,  for  the  restoration  of  the  apostolic  rite  of 
anointing  and  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  healing,  the 
association  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Holy  Communion 
will  more  and  more  become  a  factor.  Some  rectors 
urge  the  seekers  for  healing  to  attend  the  Holy  Com¬ 
munion  several  times  in  preparation  for  anointing.  I 
well  recall  that  the  beloved  Dr.  Henry  Wilson  always 
administered  this  sacrament  ere  he  offered  the  prayer 
of  faith  for  healing  and  applied  the  anointing  oil. 

And  this  matter  opens  a  new  vision  to  those  who 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  57 


have  not  been  educated  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  The 
Lord’s  Supper  as  a  memorial  only,  does  not  satisfy 
Churchmen  as  fully  interpreting  its  value.  To  them 
it  has  a  sacramental  import  which  extends  to  the  exist¬ 
ing  needs  of  the  worshipper,  spiritual  or  otherwise. 

This  possibility  has  received  from  a  source  least  ex¬ 
pected,  a  strong  impulse.  No  Church  sacramentarian 
could  write  more  convincingly  than  does  the  Rev.  F. 
F.  Bosworth  of  the  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance 
in  his  tract,  “Discerning  the  Lord’s  Body.”  He  be¬ 
lieves  that  when  St.  Paul  charged  the  Corinthian 
Christians  with  being  “weak  and  sickly”  and  that  some 
had  died  (I  Cor.  n  130),  it  was  because  they  had  not 
received  the  life  of  the  Lord  for  their  bodies  as  they 
ate  and  drank  the  holy  symbols.  We  note  the  fol¬ 
lowing  quotation :  “Thousands  of  Christians  today,  be¬ 
cause  they  have  not  been  taught,  are  eating  the  Lord’s 
Supper  without  discerning  the  Lord’s  body.  That  is, 
they  eat  the  bread,  not  knowing  that  it  is  an  emblem 
of  the  Lord’s  body,  broken  for  their  healing.  In  other 
words,  because  they  have  not  been  shown  their  privi¬ 
lege  of  being  healed,  they  have  remained  sick  and 
weakly;  and  many  have  died.  Thousands  are  in  the 
cemeteries  before  their  time  for  this  reason ;  thousands 
of  others  are  sick  who  can  be  healed.” 

When  the  Church  of  England  restored  the  cup  to 
the  laity,  after  centuries  of  its  withholding  by  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  formulary  of  St.  Paul  in  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  First  Corinthians  expressed  the 
mind  of  the  Church  as  to  the  union  of  the  life-giving 
power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  for  the  inner  and  outer  man 
in  the  Holy  Communion.  The  phrases  in  the  First 
Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI  (A.  D.  1549)  “The  body 


58  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ”  and  “The  blood  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ”  “preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  ever¬ 
lasting  life”  are  still  in  use,  confirmatory  of  the  prayer 
of  the  Apostle  for  the  Thessalonian  Christians  in  I 
Thess.  5 :2 3. 

And  the  assumption  that  physical  life  may  be  em¬ 
braced  in  the  reception  of  the  sacrament  lies  in  the 
words  continually  used  in  the  Invocation,  “And  we 
most  humbly  beseech  Thee,  O  merciful  Father,  to  hear 
us :  and,  of  Thy  almighty  goodness,  vouchsafe  to  bless 
and  sanctify  with  Thy  Word  and  Holy  Spirit  these 
Thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and  wine;  that  we, 
receiving  them  according  to  Thy  Son,  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ’s  holy  institution,  in  remembrance  of  His 
death  and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of  His  most  bless¬ 
ed  body  and  blood.”  The  prayer  of  dedication  which 
follows  this  paragraph  contains  the  following:  “And 
we  earnestly  desire  Thy  fatherly  goodness,  mercifully 
to  accept  this  our  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  ; 
most  humbly  beseeching  Thee  to  grant  that  by  the 
merits  and  death  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  through 
faith  in  His  blood,  we,  and  all  Thy  whole  Church,  may 
obtain  remission  of  our  sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of 
(His  passion.  And  here  we  offer  and  present  unto 
Thee,  O  Lord,  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies,  to  be 
a  reasonable,  holy  and  living  sacrifice  unto  Thee ;  hum¬ 
bly  beseeching  Thee,  that  we,  and  all  others  who  may 
be  partakers  of  this  holy  communion,  may  worthily  re¬ 
ceive  the  most  precious  Body  and  Blood  of  Thy  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  be  filled  with  Thy  grace  and  heavenly 
benediction,  and  made  one  body  with  Him,  that  He 
may  dwell  in  us  and  we  in  Him.” 

A  careful  study  of  these  words  will  leave  us  no 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  59 


doubt,  that  however  the  life  of  the  Anglican  Church 
may  have  fallen  below  the  standard  here  set,  the  truth 
has  been  embalmed  all  through  the  centuries,  that  the 
body  of  the  believer  as  well  as  his  spiritual  nature  was 
designed  to  be  a  recipient  of  the  correlated  results  of 
the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord;  and  that  beyond  the 
merely  commemorative  character  of  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per,  He  designed  it  to  be  a  vitalizing  force  in  the  lives 
of  those  who,  according  to  the  Apostle,  should  receive 
it  worthily. 

Mr.  Bosworth  emphasizes  what  the  Church  of  Eng¬ 
land  has  ever  stressed,  that  in  order  to  discern  the 
Lord’s  body,  there  must  be  a  spiritual  adjustment  to 
the  mind  and  will  of  God.  The  current  of  life  for  our 
bodies,  which  is  assumed  in  the  sacrament,  is  checked 
if  sin  is  not  confessed  and  forsaken.  And  he,  like  Mr. 
Wilson,  is  positive  that  '‘None  of  God’s  laws  is  more 
reliable  and  unfailing  than  His  law  of  redemption.  It 
is  just  as  operative  as  the  law  of  gravitation.  I  main¬ 
tain  that  God’s  law  for  the  healing  of  the  body  is  just 
as  absolutely  dependable  as  for  the  soul.” 

The  name  of  James  Moore  Hickson  has  almost 
become  a  household  word  in  healing  circles  through¬ 
out  our  country.  For  many  years  he  has  ministered  in 
the  Church  of  England,  reaching  and  helping  thou¬ 
sands  of  men  and  women.  He  has  lifted  the  poor  out 
of  misery ;  he  has  been  used  of  God  to  bring  Bishops 
and  prelates  to  the  feet  of  the  living  Lord  for  healing. 
He  spent  a  number  of  months  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada  illuminating  by  his  teachings  and  quickening 
by  his  touch  many  devout  Christians  of  all  the  com¬ 
munions.  The  result  of  his  visit  has  been  the  enlarg- 


60  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


ing  of  the  healing  vision  of  the  churches  and  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  healing  centers. 

The  mission  of  the  man  cannot  be  understood  apart 
from  the  man,  himself.  He  is  a  strange  contradiction 
of  what  one  would  expect  to  find  in  one  dedicated  to 
such  a  work.  Instead  of  a  mystic,  clothed  in  monastic 
garb,  with  pale  face  and  deeply  spiritual  visage,  we 
look  upon  a  typical  Englishman,  in  a  conventional 
business  suit,  large  in  frame,  stocky  in  appearance, 
with  de’ep-set  eyes,  florid  complexion,  black  hair  and 
commonplace  features.  He  would  pass  in  a  crowd  for 
a  commercial  agent  or  a  stockbroker.  No  one  would 
deem  him  the  man  that  he  is.  And  in  this  lies  the 
uniqueness  of  his  call.  He  has  no  scholastic  bearing 
and  evidently  possesses  no  scholastic  culture.  Indeed, 
he  protests  that  learning  is  a  hindrance  to  the  exercise 
of  healing  faith,  unless  it  is  surrendered  to  the  Holy 
Spirit.  To  make  our  Lord  Jesus  real  in  the  life,  one 
must  be  a  child  in  knowledge;  the  realm  of  reason  is 
a  barrier,  defeating  the  spiritual  conquest  for  God. 
He  contends  just  what  we  have  already  seen,  that  “the 
psychical  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  spirit 
of  God.”  His  heart  is  grieved  over  the  refined  skepti¬ 
cism  prevailing  in  the  Church  everywhere.  The  bar 
to  victory  is  the  unbelief  of  the  people.  They  do  not 
lay  hold  of  God;  they  do  not  open  their  lives  to  Him; 
they  put  Him  far  from  them  in  their  spiritual  con¬ 
cepts  of  His  personality  and  presence,  of  His  blessed 
will  and  promised  power.  In  an  outburst  of  eloquent 
appeal,  he  cried  on  one  occasion,  “Give  me  the  little 
child  whose  soul  has  not  been  poisoned  with  doubts 
and  fears  and  questionings.  Aye,  let  me  have  a  sleep¬ 
ing  babe.” 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  61 


He  testifies  that  he  owes  the  genesis  of  his  mission 
to  his  saintly  mother,  who  taught  her  children  to  pray 
to  God  as  to  a  real  person,  who  has  a  tender  longing 
to  bless  those  who  will  trust  Him.  He  certifies  that 
they  were  all  wont  with  untainted  faith,  to  take  every¬ 
thing  to  God  in  prayer. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  two  of  his  cousins  were  visit¬ 
ing  his  family.  Feeling  a  deep  sympathy  for  one  of 
them  suffering  with  facial  neuralgia,  the  thought  came 
to  him,  “Why  not  pray  for  her  and  lay  your  hand  upon 
her  face  ?”  Calling  to  her  he  simply  said,  “Let  me  put 
my  hands  upon  your  face  where  the  pain  is.”  He 
knew  nothing  of  the  Scriptural  provision  for  the  lay¬ 
ing  on  of  hands  for  healing,  which  makes  the  incident 
the  more  remarkable.  He  was  not  surprised  that  in¬ 
stantly  she  witnessed  that  the  pain  all  left  her.  In  a 
few  days,  her  sister,  afflicted  with  St.  Vitus’  Dance, 
was  taken  with  an  attack.  With  the  like  simple  faith, 
he  laid  hands  upon  her  and  prayed.  The  result  was 
the  same.  His  mother  beholding  the  incidents,  said 
to  him,  “Jimmie,  God  has  given  you  a  gift.  Dedicate 
it  to  Him  in  humble  faith  and  work  as  He  directs 
you.”  From  that  day,  he  has  known  no  other  pursuit. 

The  signal  honor  which  the  Lord  has  put  upon  his 
consecration  no  earthly  record  can  disclose. 

It  was  during  the  war,  however,  that  he  received  his 
world-wide  call.  He  had  been  greatly  oppressed  by  the 
reverses  that  had  come  to  England  and  her  allies  in 
1915,  and  he  felt  he  must  get  far  away  from  every¬ 
thing  to  pray.  He  was  led  to  the  distant  island  of 
Iona,  where  St.  Columba  landed,  when  he  took  the 
Gospel  to  the  Scots.  On  his  trip,  his  lot  fell  with  an 
aged  man  who  had  been  given  up  by  medical  advisers 


62  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


in  London.  He  had  pleaded  with  his  son  to  come  for 
him  that  he  might  go  home  and  die  among  his  own 
kin.  When  Mr.  Hickson  learned  of  his  condition,  he 
told  the  simple  story  of  our  Lord’s  power  to  heal. 
Without  hesitation,  the  old  man  and  his  son  accepted 
the  teaching.  And  right  there  in  the  carriage,  the  heal¬ 
ing  was  bestowed.  Arriving  at  their  destination,  the 
testimony  of  the  man  and  his  son  set  up  a  tide  that 
grew  into  great  proportions.  From  all  parts  of  the 
Island  they  came,  taking  long  and  wearisome  journeys. 
They  could  not  make  appointments.  There  were  no 
telephones,  and  the  most  of  the  population  could  not 
write.  So  he  would  find  them  in  the  morning,  pa¬ 
tiently  sitting  on  the  door-step  or  about  the  house 
where  he  lodged,  waiting  for  his  ministry.  It  was  in¬ 
deed  a  reproduction  of  the  days  of  our  Lord  and  the 
apostles.  So  graciously  did  God  honor  that  visitation, 
that  he  dedicated  himself  to  the  purpose  to  belt  the 
globe,  as  the  Lord  should  lead  him.  After  his  mission 
in  America,  he  set  forth  to  the  mission  fields.  And 
most  voluminous  have  been  the  attestations  to  the  seal 
of  God  upon  his  undertaking. 

His  labors  are  herculean.  In  the  chancels  of 
crowded  churches,  he  will  spend  four  long  hours, 
praying  with  the  sick,  after  ascertaining  their  ills,  and 
counseling  and  strengthening  them  in  their  faith. 
Then  will  follow  private  visitations  to  the  shut-ins.  He 
does  not  anoint;  probably  with  a  Churchman’s  regard 
for  the  ministry,  he  believes  that  should  be  done  only 
by  God's  ordained  servants.  His  great  aim  in  these 
missions  is  to  get  the  clergy  into  touch  with  the  Lord 
that  they  may  themselves  minister  in  this  healing 
realm. 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  63 


He  is  a  firm  upholder  of  the  teaching  that  the  gift 
of  healing  has  never  been  withdrawn;  and  that  the 
present-day  situation  demands  a  return  to  apostolic 
practices.  He  feels  deeply  that  the  Christian  Church 
has  wounded  the  heart  of  our  Lord  by  refusing  to 
maintain  the  order  which  He  constituted.  And  he 
insists  that  healing  is  as  much  the  part  of  present-day 
ministry,  as  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Mr.  Hickson  answers  the  popular  challenge  that 
times  have  changed;  that  in  this  age  we  have  skilled 
physicians  and  hitherto  unknown  remedies,  by  the 
stubborn  fact  that  there  are  myriads  whom  the  doc¬ 
tors  confess  they  cannot  cure.  They  are  struggling  on 
to  eke  out  a  wretched  existence,  doomed  to  drop  in 
their  tracks ;  they  are  languishing  on  beds  of  suffering 
or  weakness;  they  are  crowding  the  sanitariums;  all 
piteously  pleading  for  a  deliverance  which  the  Church 
is  not  bold  to  offer.  “Has  God  no  heart  for  such  ?”  is 
his  pitiful  interrogation.  “Does  He  express  a  favorit¬ 
ism  for  those  whom  the  doctors  cure;  and  resign  to 
life-long  misery  those  whom  they  cannot?”  In  this 
aspect  of  the  case  he  is  most  vehement.  He  shames 
the  insufficiency  of  the  Church  that  has  helplessly 
stood  by  acknowledging  and  scarce  deploring  her  im¬ 
potence.  He  contends  that  these  were  the  very  ones 
whom  our  Lord  most  touchingly  pitied  and  readily 
healed.  And  Mr.  Hickson  maintains  that  it  is  in  His 
heart  to  reach  them  now,  through  His  faithful  minis¬ 
ters  and  devoted  servants.  He  urges  that  we  should 
covet  the  incurable  cases  as  a  special  burden  and  meet 
them  with  the  triumphant  faith  which  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  extols. 

And  he  insists  that  we  cannot  participate  in  this  ex- 


64  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


alted  service,  if  we  are  moved  only  by  a  passing  sym¬ 
pathy;  that  we  are  called  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  do  the 
works  of  our  Lord,  in  just  the  same  way  that  He  did 
and  with  the  expectation  of  the  same  results.  Obedience 
to  what  is  evidently  His  mind  and  heart  is  our  only 
source  of  inspiration  and  power.  I  believe  that  this 
one  note  is  the  most  imperative  of  all  his  messages. 
And  it  must  strike  the  soul  of  many  a  man  who  has 
been  appreciative  of  healing,  but  not  bold  and  aggres¬ 
sive. 

Against  the  fatalistic  tendency  to  regard  sickness  as 
from  the  hand  of  God,  and  to  be  borne  with  patience 
and  resignation,  he  has  no  weak  and  compromising 
attitude.  He  is  tremendously  unctuous  that  God  is  not, 
cannot  be  the  author  of  disease.  And  he  maintains 
with  force  that  our  Father’s  will  is  that  all  His  chil¬ 
dren  shall  be  in  health.  But  He  does  allow  that,  like 
the  Corinthian  Christians,  many  are  weak  and  sickly 
because  they  are  not  in  the  will  of  God.  And  for  such 
He  must  suffer  the  invasion  of  disease.  The  call,  how¬ 
ever  is  not  to  resignation,  but  penitence,  confession, 
amendment  and  conquest.  Logically  he  declares  that 
spiritual  healing  means  nothing  less  than  the  inflowing 
of  our  Lord’s  risen  and  exalted  life  into  the  physical 
beings  of  His  own  members.  As  He  is  the  Head  of  the 
Body,  the  Church,  any  alienation  from  Him  by  un¬ 
spiritual  moods,  or  methods  of  living  must  break  the 
stream  of  life-bestowment.  To  this  end,  the  conferred 
health  of  our  Lord  can  come  to  the  believer  only 
through  conscious  fellowship  with  Him.  This  is 
Scriptural  and  rational.  No  one  can  withstand  the 
appeal. 

Mr.  Hickson  admits  the  cures  of  the  medical  pro- 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  65 


fession  and  advises  that  they  who  are  helped  thereby 
shall  offer  praise  consistent  with  the  benefits  received. 
He  does  not  believe  his  mission  is  enhanced  by  an¬ 
tagonism.  This  attitude  has  won  many  doctors  to  his 
side.  For  in  according  to  them  their  rightful  sphere, 
they  reciprocate  by  allowing  to  him,  what  he  has 
proven  by  countless  instances  to  be  his.  Nor  does  he 
strike  lances  with  psycho-therapy;  for  he  is  certified 
that  mental  and  nervous  disorders  are  often  met  by 
this  system.  But  he  does  not  consider  that  to  be  the 
Lord's  way  for  those  who  have  full  faith.  His  confi¬ 
dence  in  the  great-heartedness  of  God  impels  him  to 
pronounce  the  memorable  dictum,  “God  will  meet  you 
where  He  can  find  you ;  and  He  will  give  you  as  much 
as  you  are  able  to  take."  All  that  he  insists  is  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  shall  be  regnant  in  the  life. 

At  a  recent  session  of  the  Church  Congress,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  when  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  healing  was  under  discussion,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Worcester,  founder  of  the  Emmanuel  Movement  in 
Boston,  made  the  following  statement  regarding  Mr. 
Hickson:  “Mr.  Hickson's  method  must  be  modified. 
It  must  be  adapted  to  our  Church  and  to  medical 
science.  It  would  be  a  fatal  and  irremediable  blunder 
to  accept  anything  not  based  on  scientific  methods.  Mr. 
Hickson  would  be  a  great  power  if  he  had  a  little 
scientific  knowledge.  I  recognized  at  once  that  he  was 
a  psychic  with  extraordinary  gifts." 

From  what  we  have  briefly  discerned  of  Mr.  Hick¬ 
son,  his  call,  his  spiritual  methods  and  his  consecrated 
ministry,  we  can  see  at  a  glance  that  to  put  him  into 
the  place  of  a  psychic  would  contradict  all  that  he  de- 


66  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


voutly  believes  has  come  to  him  from  the  Lord  Him¬ 
self.  As  Mr.  Wilson  well  says,  “Placing  Mr.  Hickson 
as  a  medium,  explains  him  away  by  making  him  more 
complex.”  He  would,  in  our  judgment,  be  a  Samson 
shorn  of  his  locks,  a  David  in  Saul’s  armor.  Dr. 
McComb,  associate  of  Dr.  Worcester,  as  well  at  the 
Congress,  emphasized  Dr.  Worcester’s  position  in  the 
words,  “Spiritual  healing  must  be  exercised  under  the 
oversight  and  with  the  counsel  of  the  students  of 
medicine.  It  is  here  that  the  great  weakness  of  the 
Hickson  movement  reveals  itself.  It  is  significant  that 
so  far  as  I  know,  every  attempt  to  continue  Mr.  Hick¬ 
son’s  work  along  his  lines,  apart  from  his  personal 
presence,  has  been  more  or  less  a  failure.  Of  neces¬ 
sity  this  must  be  so,  if  our  contention  is  right  that  his 
successes  are  due  to  peculiar  gifts,  however  these  gifts 
may  be  explained.” 

Now,  because  the  psychological  movement  with 
reference  to  healing  has  so  widely  spread,  brave  men 
are  trying  to  reconcile  it  with  the  New  Testament 
ideal.  Dr.  Pym  has  issued  “Psychology  and  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Life.”  Our  immediate  study  will  be  of  another 
book,  entitled  “The  Psychology  of  Orthodoxy.”  The 
Rev.  Elwin  L.  House,  D.D.,  who  has  lectured  exten¬ 
sively  on  this  theme,  and  who  has  at  length  embraced 
his  lectures  in  this  volume,  is  down-right  earnest  in  his 
hope  of  bridging  the  chasm. 

We  may  speak  of  Dr.  House  as  truly  orthodox.  He 
believes  in  the  working  and  power  of  sin;  in  the  re¬ 
demption  on  Calvary’s  cross  for  a  lost  world;  in  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  in  the  heavenlies,  the  glori¬ 
fied  and  exalted  Son  of  God ;  in  the  personal  ministry 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom  the  evangel  of  God 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  67 


is  to  be  made  effectual  in  the  lives  of  men.  He  has  no 
mincing  words  with  which  to  express  his  conviction 
of  the  reality  of  Satan;  and  of  judgment  upon  those 
who  refuse  the  proffered  salvation  which  a  loving  God 
has  given  to  the  world.  His  chapters  “The  Psychology 
of  Orthodoxy”  and  “Realizing  God”  deserve  to  be¬ 
come  classics. 

Dr.  House’s  book  has  gone  through  ten,  and  by  this 
time  probably  more  printings.  That  he  has  struck  a 
sympathetic  chord  one  cannot  question.  He  believes 
in  the  Lord’s  healing,  has  seen  it  conferred  under  his 
own  ministry.  He  pleads  that  his  postulates  will  not 
be  received  by  multitudes  of  Christian  people.  For 
notwithstanding  the  evident  popularity  of  his  message, 
through  his  lectures  and  the  now  published  volume, 
those  who  know  God  in  close  fellowship,  through  re¬ 
demption  and  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  will 
halt  before  this  well-intentioned  purpose  to  marry 
what  they  devoutly  believe  God  can  never  unite. 

Dr.  House  succinctly  declares  his  position  on  pages 
36,  37,  40,  41  in  the  following  statements:  “Many 
schools  which  practice  healing  are  dangerous.  They 
may  be  absolutely  out  of  harmony  with  New  Testa¬ 
ment  teaching;  and  yet  they  may  heal  through  the 
power  of  suggestion.  And  because  they  do  heal, 
many  good,  yet  thoughtless  people  who  are  healed,  ac¬ 
cept  the  religion  of  such  schools  as  true  and  God- 
approved.”  “No  amount  of  soul-growth  or  ethical 
culture  can  bring  a  man  into  the  spiritual  kingdom. 
Psychology  will  fail  to  transform  men  unless  it  begins 
with  regeneration.  The  blood  of  the  Lamb  has  not 
lost  its  cleansing  power  and  never  will  lose  it ;  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  never  grow  weary  in  the  washing  of 


68  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


regeneration.”  “The  peril  of  the  time  is  a  Bible  with  its 
divineness  struck  out;  a  theology  with  sin  denied  or 
minimized  or  apologized  for;  the  cross  reduced  to  an 
object  lesson;  culture  substituted  for  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit;  saintship  made  a  matter  chiefly  of  self¬ 
development;  retribution  a  figure  of  speech,  and  the 
pit  of  corruption  either  filled  up  or  spanned  with  a  bow 
of  hope.  Now  Christian  psychology  stands  as  the 
guardian  of  the  supernatural.  It  believes  that  psychic 
processes  are  unable  to  account  for  the  phenomena  that 
arise  out  of  the  subconscious  life  of  man.  It  believes 
that  God’s  Holy  Spirit  is  the  origin  of  all  spiritual 
movements  in  this  life  of  man.  It  recognizes  the  fact 
that  the  supernatural  reveals  itself  through  the  natural 
and  its  highest  expression  is  in  human  life.  Being 
born  of  the  Spirit  is  a  supernatural  process,  and  is  the 
basis  of  all  our  claim  for  spiritual  and  bodily  health/' 
I  have  italicized  the  doubtful  sentence  in  this  splen¬ 
didly  expressed  postulate.  And  the  consideration  of 
it  deserves  an  humble  and  prayerful  attitude.  Can 
we  be  sure  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  operating 
in  those  mental  processes  which  mark  the  skilfully 
presented  challenges  of  suggestion  (where  a  superior 
mind  works  upon  an  inferior  mind)  or  auto-sug¬ 
gestion,  where  the  individual  himself  scientifically 
manipulates  his  thought  spheres  ?  Does  the  Holy 
Spirit  ask  the  guardianship  of  “  Christian  Psychol¬ 
ogy  ”  ?  What  if  this  new  thing  be  found  to  lead 
away  from  the  truly  spiritual  realm,  which  Dr.  House 
so  enthusiastically  exalts,  into  a  cold  intellectuality? 
If  in  adopting  this  nomenclature,  and  its  scientific 
corollaries,  its  necessary  culture  (which  thousands 
of  simple-minded  Christians  would  be  unable  to 


CHRISTIAN  HEALING  IN  CHURCHES  69 


grasp,  but  to  whom  faith  is  as  clear  as  day),  there 
grows  around  it  so  much  that  savors  of  the  personally- 
analytical,  self-sufficiency,  the  enthusiasm  of  human¬ 
ity,  we  wonder  if  Dr.  House  has  successfully  hit  upon 
an  advance  which  may  prove  a  retrograde  in  God’s 
eyes. 

In  the  days  of  Dr.  Cullis,  before  psychology  as  it  is 
now  taught  had  come  to  birth,  one  psychologist,  in 
analyizing  how  Dr.  Cullis  could  receive  such  large 
gifts  for  his  work,  in  supposed  answer  to  prayer,  de¬ 
cided  that  the  saintly  man  possessed  the  power  of 
telepathy,  which  he  projected  towards  those  who  had 
money;  and  they  were  compelled  by  this  influence, 
though  gladly,  to  make  offerings  to  him.  On  page  73, 
Dr.  House  recites  an  incident  in  his  own  experience 
which  shows  his  leaning  toward  this  occult  faculty; 
yet  in  his  chapter  on  the  Psychology  of  Prayer,  the 
nine  excellent  points  he  treats  do  not  betray  his  sym¬ 
pathy  with  Dr.  Cullis’  critic.  However,  on  pages  21 1, 
212,  he  declares  that  ‘The  greatest  discovery  in  the 
scientific  world  is  the  revelation  of  the  subconscious 
life.  It  is  in  this  subconscious  life  that  our  scientists 
are  discovering  the  reserve  power  of  the  race  and  an 
answer  to  the  mysterious  workings  of  suggestion  upon 
the  mind.  It  is  this  subconscious,  superconscious 
region  of  our  personality  that  opens  up  a  hitherto  un¬ 
discovered  country,  where  God  abides  and  where  we 
live  and  move  and  have  our  being  in  Him.”  The  head¬ 
ing  of  the  section  in  which  this  paragraph  is  found 
reads  “ The  psychology  of  prayer  shows  it  to  he  power¬ 
ful  auto-sugge  stion/’ 

Now,  let  us  plead  with  Dr.  House  that  this  “hith¬ 
erto  undiscovered  country”  was  not  known  to  those 


70  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


“who  through  faith  wrought  righteousness,  obtained 
promises,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed 
valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens’' 
(Heb.  11:33,  34).  The  men  of  God  who  gave  us  the 
Word  of  God  by  their  devotion  to  truth,  needed  not 
this  novelty.  The  Christians  to  whom  the  Apostles 
wrote  did  not  require  the  pipes  of  psychology  to  con¬ 
vey  to  them  the  resurrected  life  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

But  Dr.  House  knew  full  well  that  he  would  not  get 
a  hearing  if  he  should  follow  the  old  and  tested  lines. 
The  present  generation  is  itching  for  the  adaptation  of 
the  faith  to  modern  modes  of  thought.  And  like  a 
wise  fisher  of  men,  he  has  caught  with  guile  those  who 
otherwise  would  have  turned  him  down.  But  in  the  last 
analysis — What? 

To  us  who  know  the  joy  of  self-surrender,  who  love 
the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ  (II  Cor.  ii  13)  there  is 
a  sure  refuge  from  the  perplexing  mazes  of  psychol¬ 
ogy  in  the  “casting  down  of  imaginations  and  bringing 
into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ’’ 
(II  Cor.  10:3-5).  For,  we  “are  dead  and  our  life  is 
hid  with  Christ,”  “that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the 
pre-eminence”  (Col.  3:3;  1:18).  “I  live  and  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me;  and  the  life  which  I  now 
live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God, 
who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me”  (Gal.  2:20) 
asks  no  guiding  hand  from  this  new  and  alluring  as¬ 
sumption  of  equality  with  the  potentialities  of  the 
Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  forever  (I 
Peter  1:25). 


CHAPTER  V. 

HEALING  PROBLEMS  AND  PERPLEXITIES. 


If  faith  were  uniform  and  always  victorious,  there 
would  be  no  room  for  questions  in  the  realm  of  heal¬ 
ing.  There  were  no  failures  when  our  Lord  worked 
signs  among  the  people;  nor  were  the  apostles  uncer¬ 
tain  as  to  the  results  in  their  ministry  to  the  sick.  We 
are  confronted  by  perplexities  which  well-nigh  para¬ 
lyze  our  confidence.  Some  have  given  up  the  belief 
entirely,  and  resigned  themselves  to  utter  indifference. 
Others  are  certified  that  there  is  healing  in  the  truth 
of  God,  which  reaches  the  entire  man;  and  that  it  be¬ 
comes  the  children  of  God  to  get  as  close  to  it  as 
possible  until  greater  light  is  vouchsafed  and  fuller 
power  is  conferred. 

Many  of  the  problems  in  this  chapter  have  been  pre¬ 
sented  to  me  by  sincere  inquirers  for  the  truth  of  heal¬ 
ing,  during  the  forty  years  I  have  sought  to  know  and 
teach  God’s  will  regarding  this  doctrine. 

I  must  beg  that  the  utmost  consideration  be  accord¬ 
ed  where  the  solutions  offered  may  not  harmonize  with 
the  concepts  and  personal  experiences  of  those  who 
hold  divergent  convictions.  Let  us  dwell  in  the  thir¬ 
teenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians  and  allow  for  “di¬ 
versities  of  gifts”  and  “differences  of  administration, 
but  the  same  Lord ;”  “diversities  of  operation,  but  the 
same  God;”  “all  working  that  one  and  the  self-same 
Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  He  will”  (I 
Cor.  12:4,  5,  6,  11). 


71 


72  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Why  divine  healing  anyway  f  It  has  always  proven 
a  storm  center.  The  old  Gospel  is  good  enough. 

If  there  were  no  healing  movement  in  the  present 
day;  if  the  alien  cults  were  not  setting  up  rival  prac¬ 
tices,  under  the  name  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  draw¬ 
ing  away  from  the  Church  precious  souls  who  are  be¬ 
ing  beguiled  by  heathen  perversions,  we  might  readily 
surrender  to  the  judgment  of  this  questioner.  We  are 
all  lovers  of  peace;  and  the  divisions  which  mark  the 
different  healing  schools,  as  well  as  in  other  doctrinal 
spheres,  are  heartrending.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
unity  in  the  Church  today ;  and  alas,  there  is  little  de¬ 
sire  for  it.  But  does  the  propounder  of  this  interroga¬ 
tion  realize  that  our  Lord  postulated  the  very  condi¬ 
tion  which  he  criticizes?  “I  came  not  to  send  peace, 
but  a  sword”  (Matt.  10:34).  When  the  apostles 
preached  at  Thessalonica,  the  unbelieving  Jews  cried, 
“These  that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down  are 
come  hither  also”  (Acts  17:6).  Certainly  they  did 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  populace.  But  that  was  just 
what  they  were  commissioned  to  do.  In  view  of  the 
conditions  noted,  it  would  seem  that  St.  Paul’s  protest 
in  I  Cor.  11  :i9  were  pertinent  to  the  problem,  “There 
must  be  also  heresies  among  you,  that  they  which  are 
approved  may  be  made  manifest  among  you.”  As 
though  St.  Jude  were  beholding  the  very  days  in  which 
we  live,  he  wrote,  “Contend  earnestly  for  the  faith 
once  for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints”  (Jude  3).  The 
matter  is  in  the  air  and  our  repudiation  will  not  im¬ 
prove  the  situation.  Let  me  ask,  if  the  Lord  were  to 
visit  His  Church  with  a  wave  of  healing  power,  would 
this  questioner  be  in  anywise  fitted  to  receive  it.  And 
though  it  were  not  to  come,  are  not  they,  who  love  the 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  73 


doctrine,  who  have  had  experience  of  its  truth,  plac¬ 
ing  themselves  before  God  in  that  fitting  attitude  which 
is  pleasing  to  Him? 

How  much  of  the  Old  Testament  may  the  New 
Testament  believer  appropriate ? 

In  no  realm  of  thought  is  this  question  so  often  put 
as  in  that  of  healing.  Promises  to  the  Israelites,  it  is 
claimed,  rest  upon  conditions  which  do  not  now  exist. 
They  were  assured  temporal  blessings,  while  ours  are 
spiritual.  Their  vision  was  earthly ;  our  is  heavenly.  A 
reasonable  survey  of  the  contrasting  situations  will 
solve  the  problem.  Yet  we  must  not  forget  that  the 
entire  Old  Testament  is  embraced  in  the  Apostle's 
congratulations  to  the  Corinthian  Christians,  “They 
are  written  for  our  admonition  upon  whom  the  ends 
of  the  ages  have  come”  (I  Cor.  10:11).  So  also  Rom. 
15:4,  I  Peter  1  :i2,  25.  If  man  shall  not  live  by  bread 
alone;  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  God  (Matt.  4:4),  then  “all  the  promises  of 
God  are  yea,  and  in  him  Amen,  unto  the  glory  of  God 
by  us.”  (II  Cor.  1 :2o). 

I  do  not  understand  what  you  mean  by  “ divine  life 
for  the  body.” 

The  alien  cults  are  telling  us  that  there  is  a  cosmic 
life  which  is  the  property  of  those  who  will  apply  it 
to  their  use.  It  is  not  available  to  others.  Such  have 
a  life;  but  it  is  not  the  cosmic  life.  Likewise  other 
definitions  of  this  life  indicate  it  as  the  universal  life, 
the  harmonious  life.  But  the  adherents  of  the  teach¬ 
ing  insist  that  it  will  respond  only  to  those  who  put 
themselves  by  thought  and  desires,  into  its  beneficent 


74  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


currents.  We  show  to  men  the  better  way.  When  our 
Lord  Jesus  was  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  He 
was  made  Head  of  the  Body,  which  is  the  Church,  the 
fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all  (Eph.  1:18-23). 
If  we  are  complete  in  ,'Him  (Col.  2  :g,  10),  then  the  life 
which  is  His  may  be  ours,  if  we  choose  to  appropriate 
it.  But  while  the  cults  obtain  their  victories  by  men¬ 
tal  orocesses,  our  life  in  the  Lord  Jesus  is  by  personal 
fellowship  with  Himself.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  streams  of  life  flow  from  the  glorified  body  of 
our  Lord,  which  are  at  the  disposal  of  those  who  walk 
in  the  light  with  Him  and  trust  Him  for  this  provision. 
They  who  do  not  see  this  aspect  of  truth  may  deem 
fanatical  those  who  do.  But  the  test  lies  in  the  recog¬ 
nition  of  it,  and  then  in  the  obedience  which  makes 
every  thought  amenable  to  |His  will  (II  Cor.  10:3-5). 

But  healing  may  not  be  the  will  of  God  for  all  God's 
children .  Many  saints  have  shown  beautiful  lives  in 
an  accepted  resignation  to  permanent  invalidism. 

I  must  lovingly  take  issue  with  my  good  friend, 
Rev.  Rowland  V.  Bingham,  in  his  book  “The  Bible  and 
the  Body/’  where  on  page  34,  after  he  has  acknowl¬ 
edged  the  marvelous  healing  of  Mary  Reed,  who  had 
contracted  leprosy  in  India  and  returned  to  give  her 
life  to  the  lepers  of  that  land,  he  contrasts  her  healing 
with  the  triumphant  death  of  Mr.  Davis,  who  “while 
dying  of  that  dread  disease,  blessed  more  people  than 
if  he  had  been  healed.”  To  Mr.  Bingham’s  query, 
“Which  of  these  glorified  Christ  most?”  I  offer  an 
interrogation.  Who  can  tell  the  measure  of  God’s 
glory  ?  Who  knows  what  is  the  more  pleasing  to 
God?  Was  not  our  Lord  Jesus  antagonized  by  the 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  75 


presence  of  disease  wherever  He  met  it?  Had  He  not 
been  anointed  by  God  with  the  Holy  Ghost  for  this 
very  conquest  (Acts  10:38)  ?  Mr.  Davis  has  gone  on; 
his  joyous  death,  after  all  his  members  had  been 
affected  with  this  loathsome  disorder,  ushered  him  in¬ 
to  a  well-merited  fellowship  with  his  Lord.  But  a  re¬ 
cent  letter  from  Mary  Reed  tells  us  of  her  jubilant  life 
of  service,  while  she  sings  out  her  happy  hours  in  soul¬ 
ful  praise  for  her  healing  and  the  prolongation  of  her 
days  for  the  service  to  which  she  has  dedicated  herself. 
Mr.  Davis  died  a  victim  of  the  enmity  of  him  who 
exercises  the  power  of  death ;  Mary  Reed,  healed  over 
twenty  years  ago,  still  lives  to  magnify  Him  who  over¬ 
came  that  power  (Heb.  2:14),  for  the  deliverance  of 
His  own. 

Bella  Cooke,  who  for  over  thirty  years  was  bed¬ 
ridden,  and  whom  I  knew  personally,  whose  sick-room 
was  a  shrine  for  the  children  of  God  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  is  frequently  quoted  by  those  who  depreci¬ 
ate  the  truth  of  healing.  Fanny  Crosby  likewise  is 
mentioned.  In  my  contacts  with  her,  I  never  heard  that 
she  even  desired  healing.  I  am  not  sure  that  it  was 
even  proposed  to  her.  Bella  Cooke  was  wont  to  say, 
'‘When  the  Lord  sends  the  faith,  FU  be  healed.”  And 
she  rested  herself  in  that  position. 

But  cases  like  that  of  Mr.  Davis,  Bella  Cooke  or 
Fanny  Crosby  are  extraordinary.  In  answering  the 
question,  therefore,  we  may  eliminate  exceptional  in¬ 
stances,  where  God  has  had  special  purposes  in  mind ; 
and  apply  ourselves  to  general  aspects  of  the  problem. 
We  have  all  seen  resignation  overworked ;  and  what 
is  humanly  determined  to  be  the  will  of  God  may  be 
proven  in  the  final  assize  to  have  been  a  delusion. 


76  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Confessedly,  there  is  an  infatuation  in  invalidism 
which  weaves  a  spell  over  those  who  have  sought  and 
received  resignation  grace.  We  may  not  doubt  that 
God  will  give  it  to  those  who  wish  it;  since  there  is 
nothing  better  He  can  do.  But  they  become  so  accus¬ 
tomed  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  sickroom,  that  they 
have  not  the  courage  to  strike  for  freedom,  and  faith 
for  healing  is  atrophied.  We  cannot  help  contending 
that  resigned  invalidism  is  a  bondage,  however  beauti¬ 
ful  they  may  be  who  exercise  it  in  the  acceptation  of 
a  settled  destiny.  They  are  not  claiming  their  cove¬ 
nant  rights  in  the  expressed  will  of  God. 

Let  us  look  into  the  matter.  Our  Lord  Jesus  did 
His  Father’s  will  in  the  ministry  of  healing  (John  4: 
34 ;  6 : 38 ;  8 129.  Acts  10 138) .  Has  that  will  changed  ? 
Is  He  as  much  glorified  now  in  the  healing  of  suffer¬ 
ing  humanity  as  then  (Matt.  9:8)  ?  But,  what  is  the 
will  of  God  for  His  own?  The  answer  lies  in  an  oft- 
repeated  text,  “If  we  ask  anything  according  to  his 
will,  he  heareth  us”  (I  John  5:14).  Does  this  imply 
that  the  will  of  God  is  a  caprice?  Is  this  a  “weather¬ 
cock  promise”?  But,  what  is  His  will?  It  is  His 
pledged  Testament,  His  New  Covenant;  it  ;s  His 
Word.  We  shall  have  what  we  will,  if  our  lives  are 
squared  by  His  Word  (John  15:7).  Dr.  Simpson 
used  to  say,  “If  we  would  receive  life  through  the 
Word,  we  must  live  our  lives  by  the  Word.”  If  the 
Word  of  God  is  to  work  effectually  in  us  who  be¬ 
lieve  (I  Thess.  2:13),  it  must  be  received  as  the  will 
of  God  for  us.  Do  let  us  get  rid  of  the  misconception. 
The  will  of  God  which  we  are  to  learn  to  understand 
(Eph.  5:17)  is  our  highest  good,  our  glorious  free¬ 
dom,  our  fullest  destiny. 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  77 


So  we  have  the  Scriptural  authority  to  say  to  all 
invalids,  “Look  for  deliverance,  despite  every  symp¬ 
tom  to  the  contrary.  Be  as  strong  in  your  confidence 
in  His  good  will,  as  you  have  tried  to  be  patient  in  ac¬ 
cepting  your  fate.  Do  not  forget  that  those  whom  our 
Lord  healed  had  in  many  instances  been  resigned  to 
their  doom,  until  He  aroused  in  them  a  new  hope.  God 
is  not  partial  that  you  should  be  bound,  while  others 
are  enjoying  liberty.  Get  the  highest  motive  for  ask¬ 
ing,  which  is  His  glory  and  delight,  and  keep  on  be¬ 
lieving;  keep  on  rejoicing;  keep  on  expecting  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  the  Lord.” 

The  mind  of  the  Spirit  is  that  the  children  of  God 
should  be  daily  looking  for  the  coming  of  the  King. 
We  do  not  falter  by  the  temptation  to  wonder  why  He 
delays.  We  have  naught  to  do  with  that.  Our  part 
and  privilege  is  to  watch  and  wait.  He  places  a 
premium  upon  the  attitude  of  expectancy.  If  we 
translate  into  our  lives  the  preparedness  for  His  ad¬ 
vent  which  He  loves  to  find  in  His  own,  into  the  realm 
of  healing,  we  shall  be  nearer  to  our  conquest  than  if 
we  sink  supinely  into  a  state  of  fatalism,  which  blindly, 
dumbly  and  in  paralysis  of  faith  expects  nothing  for 
tomorrow  but  the  repetition  of  today’s  suffering. 

Then ,  there  may  he  a  possible  difference  between  the 
healings  conferred  by  our  Lord  and  the  health  which 
we  may  expect  from  His  glorified  Body? 

A  wise  question.  In  His  earth-life,  He  healed  to 
prove  His  Deity-Sonship  and  to  express  the  pity  of 
the  Father  for  a  suffering  humanity.  All  the  re¬ 
corded  healings  in  His  life  were  immediate  (the  one 
exception  only  being  progressive— Mark  8:22-25); 


78  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

while  in  our  day,  healings  are  more  often  gradual.  In 
His  ministry,  compassion  was  the  moving  factor ;  now, 
He  may  have  a  deeper  purpose  ere  He  can  reach  us  for 
physical  salvation.  I  recall  an  experience  of  my  dear 
friend,  Max  Moorhead.  He  had  gone  to  Pastor 
Stockmayer’s  Home  in  Switzerland,  greatly  needing 
health.  While  the  Pastor  was  conventionally  kindly 
to  him  and  everything  was  done  for  his  comfort,  there 
was  no  approach  to  the  expected  session  of  prayer. 
Day  after  day,  the  saintly  man  of  God  made  inquiry 
as  to  his  being  cared  for,  but  not  a  word  was  said  as 
to  his  healing.  Finally,  a  heart-searching  began ;  and 
Mr.  Moorhead  saw  that  the  keen  perception  of  the 
skilled  doctor  of  souls  had  detected  a  deeper  need  than 
the  physical.  Just  at  the  proper  juncture,  Pastor 
Stockmaver  entered  his  room  to  intercede  on  his  be¬ 
half,  and  his  healing  began. 

Occasionally,  the  newly  converted  receive  wonder¬ 
ful  and  permanent  healing,  the  fresh  and  unquestion¬ 
ing  faith  which  has  been  quickened  in  them  calling 
for  all  that  the  Lord  may  do  for  flesh  as  well  as  spirit. 
But  the  ordinary  conferment  of  health  in  our  day 
comes  to  the  believer  through  the  purification  of  the 
life,  the  dedication  of  the  talents  and  by  fellowship 
of  the  believer  with  his  Lord.  As  these  factors  be¬ 
come  operative,  the  channels  of  the  being  become  un¬ 
clogged  and  His  own  life  inflows. 

What  we  have  said  of  our  Lord  applies  to  the  min¬ 
istry  of  the  apostles.  The  healings  which  they  effected 
as  recorded  in  the  Acts,  were  in  attestation  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  A  distinct  aim  was 
presented  (Acts  3:12-18;  4:10,  33;  5:29-32;  9:34, 
42).  But  later,  the  complex  character  of  the  Christian 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  79 

Church  demanded  another  method  and  process.  The 
Corinthian  Christians  were  affected  bodily  by  their 
sins ;  they  had  lost  life  by  their  perversions ;  there  was 
but  one  course —  to  get  right  with  God .  If  they  would 
thus  judge  themselves,  they  would  not  be  judged  of 
the  Lord;  if  they  failed  to  do  this,  He  would  chasten 
them,  that  they  should  not  be  condemned  with  the 
world  (I  Cor.  11:28-32).  The  Apostle’s  own  experi¬ 
ence  illustrates  the  teaching.  He  was  divinely  hum¬ 
bled  by  the  presence  of  the  messenger  of  Satan,  which 
distressed  his  flesh.  He  sought,  as  he  had  the  right 
to  do,  a  complete  deliverance.  The  answer  which  the 
Lord  gave  him  fully  satisfied  him.  He  would  take 
life  from  his  Lord,  and  glory  in  his  infirmity  because 
of  the  abounding  grace  which  he  should  receive  (II 
Cor.  12:7-10).  He  found,  as  many  are  now  doing,  that 
such  a  dependence  upon  the  Lord  for  daily  sustenance 
is  better  than  entire  emancipation.  Many  cannot  see 
this ;  many  pray  against  the  compulsion.  But  the  dear 
Lord  wins  the  victory  in  the  end,  if  we  are  sincere 
with  Him ;  and  our  freedom  lies  in  our  very  bondage. 

True,  there  are  those,  who  like  Mr.  Hickson,  have 
received  the  gift  of  healing  for  a  life’s  ministry.  And 
they  have  the  witness  oft-times  of  immediate  and  com¬ 
plete  restoration.  But  the  common  experience  of  be¬ 
lievers  lies  in  the  pathway  I  have  indicated.  For  the 
glory  of  God  in  this  unbelieving  age,  faith  has  to  battle 
for  its  very  existence.  Conquests  are  the  more  diffi¬ 
cult  of  attainment.  We  live  in  an  atmosphere  of 
ecclesiastical  doubt,  of  individualism  exaggerated  to 
the  point  of  separatism,  of  suspicion  by  those  who 
should  be  sympathetic,  of  complacent  indifference  by 
the  rank  and  file  of  believers.  This  is  vastly  different 


80  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


from  being  “all  with  one  accord”  (Acts  2:1).  Con¬ 
sequently,  challenged  by  the  triumphant  achievements 
of  the  alien  cults,  the  Church  of  Christ  must  depend 
upon  those  who  will  go  with  God  as  far  as  they  can ; 
and  submit,  as  they  must,  to  bufferings  for  which  they 
are  not  responsible. 

Many  who  were  signally  healed  in  the  beginning  of 
the  movement  anxiously  ask  why  they  are  not  as 
readily  and  effectually  healed  at  the  present.  What  are 
We  to  say  to  this? 

All  movements  have  their  virgin  strength.  As  the 
years  advance,  the  methods  and  experiences  then  dis¬ 
closed,  seem,  because  of  the  weaknesses  of  humanity, 
to  change.  We  are  disposed  to  become  more  absorbed 
in  the  technicalities  of  faith  than  the  victories  of  faith. 
When  we  move  out  of  the  simplicity  which  marked 
our  first  conquests;  when  we  are  tempted  to  treat 
faith  by  intellectual  processes;  when  we  think  (and 
sincerely)  that  we  believe  as  we  did  in  the  beginning, 
but  probably  do  not,  there  is  apft  to  reside  in  us  a 
spiritual  inertia,  of  which  we  are  not  aware.  We  cer¬ 
tainly  know  that  the  maintenance  of  all-conquering  be¬ 
lief  is  a  most  difficult  undertaking,  in  the  face  of  the 
waves  of  adversity  we  must  meet  and  the  difference  in 
ourselves  of  which  we  are  not  conscious. 

All  leaders  in  religious  work  have  the  problem  in 
other  than  the  healing  realm.  I  have  tried  to  meet 
the  difficulty  in  the  little  tract,  “Triumphs  and  Test¬ 
ings.”  And  I  believe  that  those  who  are  baffled  and 
storm-tossed  on  this  matter  can  do  no  other  than  put 
themselves  afresh  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  for  the 
best  He  can  do  for  them,  resisting  the  temptation  to 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  81 


despair  of  the  will  and  power  of  the  Lord  to  heal 
again,  though  the  environment,  impulse  and  potency 
seem  so  different. 

Providing  one  exercises  the  fullest  faith  of  'which  he 
is  capable,  and  healing  does  not  come,  what  then  f 

If  what  we  have  noted  is  true  that  the  will  of  God 
is  that  His  children  should  be  in  health  (both  Mr. 
jHickson  and  Mr.  Wilson  contend  for  this),  to  sink 
supinely  under  the  defeat  of  faith  would  contradict  the 
evident  teaching  of  the  Word,  and  reverse  the  con¬ 
sensus  of  judgment  of  those  who  make  that  Word 
their  study  and  inspiration. 

God  has  been  pleased  at  times  to  heal  those  who 
came  to  the  place  of  quiet  release  from  the  struggle 
of  faith  and  entered  the  rest  of  abandonment  to  Him. 
An  illustration  might  be  used  in  the  case  of  Caruso, 
the  great  tenor.  When  the  physicians  found  that 
oxygen  failed  to  support  his  fast-ebbing  life,  they  ad¬ 
vised  that  he  should  receive  “extreme  unction”  from 
his  priest  ere  he  should  close  his  days.  There  was  no 
faith  for  healing  on  the  part  of  the  priest;  and  Caruso, 
himself,  exercised  none.  But  to  the  surprise  of  all,  he 
began  to  improve,  and  ultimately  took  his  happy  trip 
to  Italy,  from,  which  he  sent  word  of  expecting  to  re¬ 
sume  his  concerts  in  America.  His  death  there  was 
the  result  of  infection,  which  had  no  immediate  bear¬ 
ing  upon  the  incident  we  are  noting.  When  his  medi¬ 
cal  advisors  were  challenged  to  make  some  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  reversal  of  their  sentence  concerning  the 
brevity  of  his  life,  they  excused  themselves  on  the 
ground  that  very  likely  as  soon  as  he  resigned  him¬ 
self  to  die,  the  life  forces  were  liberated  and  asserted 


82  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


their  activity;  that  so  long  as  he  struggled  to  recover, 
he  crippled  his  vitality. 

Now,  if  we  will  transfer  this  illustration  to  the 
higher  realm  which  we  are  considering,  we  may  see 
that  our  Lord  may  be  able  to  do  much  for  us  when  we 
enter  the  rest  of  faith.  Struggling  for  victory  can 
paralyze  our  faith.  While  we  are  to  regard  the  hos¬ 
tile  agencies  which  dispute  our  advance  in  this  realm ; 
while  we  are  to  take  unto  us  the  whole  armor  of  God 
(Eph.  6:10-18),  there  may  be  conquest  for  us  when 
we  definitely  commend  ourselves  to  our  gracious  Lord, 
translating  Hezekiah’s  prayer  (Isa.  38:14)  into  the 
loftiest  realm  of  exultant  confidence.  If  we  recognize 
our  adversaries,  holding  the  ground  between  us  and 
our  triumph,  the  Lord  may  be  calling  us  to  the  place 
where  Joshua  stood  in  his  impotence  (Zech.  3:1,  2)  ; 
to  the  mind  of  Michael,  trained  in  the  ways  of  God 
(Jude  9).  Let  us  never  give  up  the  hope  of  bestow- 
ment.  Let  us  look  for  it  daily,  count  upon  it,  live  for 
it,  die  (if  needs  be)  in  confidence  of  it.  Thus  may  we 
honor  Him  with  a  full  trust  in  His  good  will,  of 
which,  we  may  be  sure.  He  takes  glad  cognizance.  It 
is  when  we  submit  ourselves  to  the  Lord  that  we  re¬ 
sist  our  enemy  (James  4:7). 

“/  do  not  believe  that  it  was  the  Lord’s  will  that  he 
should  be  healed” 

When  Mr.  Hickson  and  Mr.  Wilson  urge  that  it  is 
the  will  of  God  that  His  children  should  be  in  health, 
they  base  the  assumption  on  the  essential  character  of 
God.  To  be  the  God  He  is,  loving  a  lost  world,  giv¬ 
ing  His  Son  for  its  redemption,  crowning  His  Word 
with  innumerable  promises  of  healing,  any  lower  con- 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  83 


cept  of  Him  would  be  dishonoring  to  Him.  We  can 
all  agree  to  this. 

Now  if  in  any  individual  case,  this  postulate  of  God 
is  not  squared  with  our  experience,  we  may  not  be  able 
to  appraise  the  situation  according  to  the  divine 
method.  So  long  as  we  are  bound  by  the  limitations 
of  the  flesh-life,  dominated  by  human  standards,  influ¬ 
enced  by  an  atmosphere  of  skepticism,  both  in  and  out 
of  the  Church,  we  must  be  circumscribed  in  our  judg¬ 
ment. 

The  problem  encircles  around  the  question,  At  what 
time  in  our  fight  of  faith,  shall  we  yield  and  say  it  is 
not  the  will  of  the  Lord  to  heal?  We  can  no  more 
set  the  hands  of  God's  clock  than  we  can  compel  His 
working  by  human  force,  in  response  to  our  behests. 
In  standing  with  Mr.  Hickson  and  others  in  the  con¬ 
viction  of  the  will  of  the  Lord  to  give  deliverance  to 
pis  children,  I  must  plead  that  my  longing  is  to  eman¬ 
cipate  thousands  of  Christians  from  the  fatalism  into 
which  they  have  fallen  by  giving  up  the  conflict  and 
sinking  supinely  into  an  impotent  resignation. 

Many  years  ago,  a  friend,  Miss  Annie  M.  Williams, 
a  trained  nurse,  was  kicked  in  the  breast  by  a  patient 
in  delirium.  Eventually,  a  lump  forming  on  the  spot, 
with  accompanying  pain,  she  reported  to  the  surgeon 
of  the  sanitorium  in  which  she  was  engaged.  He  ad¬ 
vised  an  immediate  operation.  To  this  she  consented. 
After  the  wound  was  healed,  she  discovered  that  con¬ 
ditions  had  not  improved.  Appealing  to  the  surgeon 
in  great  dismay,  he  replied,  “When  we  opened  you, 
we  found  a  fibroid  tumor  which  runs  under  your  arm ; 
since  we  had  not  anticipated  this,  we  could  not,  on  our 
professional  honor,  amputate  your  arm;  we  had  not 


84  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


asked  your  permission.”  “And,  what  now  ?”  she  ques¬ 
tioned  in  terror.”  “That  is  for  you  to  say,”  was  his 
reply.  Immediately  after,  she  made  us  a  visit,  to  tell 
of  her  awful  future.  I  was  led  to  say  to  her,  “Annie, 
this  is  a  case  for  God.”  She  was  not  pleased  with 
the  idea.  Her  professional  life  had  made  her  a  ma¬ 
terialist;  and  she  could  not  get  into  a  frame  of  mind 
consistent  with  my  appeal.  All  I  could  do  was  to  urge 
that  she  seek  the  will  of  the  Lord.  Unknown  to  us, 
she  later  attended  a  healing  meeting  at  the  Gospel 
Tabernacle,  New  York  City,  and  came  forward  for 
prayer  and  anointing.  There  was  no  change  as  the 
weeks  went  by.  Finally  as  Christmas  Eve  arrived, 
probably  three  months  from  the  time  of  her  visit  to  us, 
she  reverently  said,  “Lord,  I  am  going  to  take  my 
healing  from  Thee  for  my  Christmas  gift.”  About 
one  o’clock  in  the  morning,  she  was  awakened  by  the 
most  wrenching  pain  she  had  yet  experienced.  In¬ 
stead  of  yielding  to  the  mortal  tendency  to  give  up  in 
despair,  she  exultantly  cried,  “O  praise  His  name; 
He  is  pulling  it  out  by  the  roots.”  She  did  get  her 
Christmas  gift.  Soon,  the  pain  entirely  subsided  and 
the  swelling  reduced.  Ultimately  she  returned  to  her 
nursing  and  for  thirty  more  years  she  worked  con¬ 
tinuously  with  that  arm  entirely  normal,  retiring  at  the 
end  having  rounded  out  an  exceptional  career  in 
length  of  time  and  quality  of  service. 

Now,  can  we  not  see  that  any  other  attitude  of 
mind  would  have  resulted  in  defeat  ?  And  if  we  agree 
with  Miss  Williams  in  “calling  those  things  which  be 
not  as  though  they  were,”  are  we  qualified  to  tell  what 
God’s  will  may  have  been,  in  any  case  where  the  atti¬ 
tude  was  the  same  and  yet  where  the  victory  did  not 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  85 


come?  Personally,  I  should  hesitate  most  reverently 
to  decide  what  the  will  of  the  Lord  might  have  been 
in  any  case  similar  to  that  which  led  to  this  discussion. 
Is  it  not  more  consistent  that  we  as  children  of  God, 
who  would  have  the  love  that  “believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things/'  should  main¬ 
tain,  in  the  face  of  all  obstinate  denials  presented  by 
human  experience,  that  God  cannot  be  less  affection¬ 
ate  to  His  heavenly  household  than  an  earthly  father 
would  be  to  his  offspring?  Let  every  father-heart  and 
mother-heart  put  this  to  the  test. 

The  great  issue  before  us  is  that  by  our  determin¬ 
ing  what  the  will  of  the  Lord  may  be  in  any  special 
instance,  we  open  the  door  to  faith-paralysis.  If  we 
arrogate  to  ourselves  the  authority  to  check  up  His 
failures  to  the  account  of  a  will  not  to  heal,  which  im¬ 
plies  that  He  is  partial  to  some,  and  turns  His  favors 
from  others,  we  cannot  be  fitted  to  inspire  believers 
with  the  faith  that  will  win  victory.  The  Apostle  saw 
in  the  impotent  man  at  Lystra,  “faith  to  be  healed/' 
But  he  would  not  have  made  that  discovery  if  there 
had  been  in  his  own  heart  a  question  that  God  might 
not  heal  him.  We  may  allow  that  those  to  whom  the 
gift  of  healing  is  imparted  may  have  a  spiritual  sense 
that  tells  them  that  healing  will  come  at  that  time  in 
one  case,  and  that  it  will  not  similarly  come  in  an¬ 
other.  But  that  does  not  enter  into  our  disquisition. 
We  are  speaking  of  a  fundamental  truth.  Does  God 
long  as  much  for  the  well-being  of  His  spiritual  chiL 
dren,  as  He  longs  for  the  salvation  of  a  lost  world  ? 

“In  many  cases ,  the  Lord’s  children,  disappointed 
because  of  their  failure  to  receive  what  they  had  been 


86  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


taught  was  their  Christian  heritage t  have  been  driven 
to  despair  and  spiritual  darkness 

This  comes  from  an  observer  who  has  watched  the 
movement,  he  claims,  with  sympathy. 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  Churchman  (Episcopal), 
an  editorial  deals  with  this  matter  in  the  following 
words : 

“Mr.  Hickson’s  theory  and  his  practice,  based 
upon  his  theory,  that  all  diseases  are  curable  by 
faith  and  prayer,  are  flatly  contradicted  by  every¬ 
thing  that  our  best  medical  authorities  know  and 
believe.  His  doctrine  is  highly  dangerous.  For 
persons  coming  to  him  in  full  faith  and  of  the 
spirit  of  prayer,  seeking  deliverance  from  some 
organic  malady,  and  finding  none,  are  in  danger 
of  losing  their  enthusiastic  belief  in  the  spiritual 
world,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  spiritual  life.” 

We  shall  have  occasion,  later  on,  to  quote  Monsieur 
Coue  of  Nancy,  France,  who  in  his  metaphysical 
practice,  claims  that  organic  diseases  are  even  more 
easily  cured  than  nervous  or  functional  complaints. 
And  this  utterly  without  faith  or  prayer.  The  editor 
of  the  Churchman  will  have  somewhat  to  learn  from 
this  astute  Frenchman,  who  for  thirty  years  has  been 
sending  thousands  of  medically-consigned  incurables 
from  his  clinic  demonstrably  delivered  from  their 
physical  bondage. 

But  our  present  purpose  is  to  look  into  the  question 
of  the  ship-wrecking  of  faith  through  failure  to  se¬ 
cure  healing.  Our  witness  will  be  the  Rev.  H.  P. 
Almon  Abbott,  D.  D.,  rector  of  Grace  and  St.  Peter’s 
Church,  Baltimore,  Md.,  who  answers  the  editor  of 
the  Churchman: 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  87 


“As  one  who  has  exercised  the  healing  ministry 
for  three  years,  let  me  make  this  guaranteed  as¬ 
sertion.  The  sick,  who  are  not,  in  accordance 
with  God’s  will,  healed  of  their  physical  sickness 
are  not  cruelly  disappointed.  Out  of  3,100  in¬ 
dividuals  dealt  with  in  my  own  parish,  each  case 
personally  investigated  afterward,  only  one  soli¬ 
tary  person  expressed  disappointment.  Thirty- 
two  per-cent  were  physically  benefitted ;  all  others, 
together  with  the  thirty-two  per-cent,  expressed 
a  keen  sense  of  spiritual  uplift  and  blessing.  God 
knows  how  to  deal  with  those  who  seek  His  help ; 
and  He  never  sends  any  one,  sincerely  seeking, 
empty  away.  Be  quite  sure  of  that.” 

Let  us  view  the  problem  from  three  angles.  There 
must  be  a  comprehension,  simple,  rational  and  Scrip¬ 
tural. 

First,  if  healing  is  not  their  Christian  heritage,  then 
God  is  a  respecter  of  persons.  For  some  are  healed, 
unquestionably.  We  cannot  think  of  our  loving  Father 
in  this  light. 

Second,  Not  all  Christians  are  ready  for  healing. 
Many  are  far  from  being  so.  Perhaps  the  danger  lies 
in  an  indiscriminate  presentation  of  the  truth.  Heal¬ 
ing  is  not  to  be  pressed  upon  those  who  have  not  been 
taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit  what  the  truth  of  healing  is. 
Christian  Scientists  and  their  confreres  of  kindred 
schools  are  insistent  in  their  propaganda.  But  we 
must  not  be.  Until  the  mind  and  heart  are  illumined, 
until  the  barriers  are  removed,  it  may  be  unwise  to 
even  present  healing.  As  to  the  mass  of  Christians, 
there  may  be  much  for  God  to  burn  out  of  their  lives 
ere  He  can  reach  them. 


88  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Third,  When  one  fails  to  receive  healing,  this  is  not 
to  plunge  him  into  “despair  and  spiritual  darkness.” 
The  very  disposition  to  so  regard  the  failure  is  evidence 
that  he  was  not  ready.  The  true  believer  is  not  a 
man  who  can  be  shaken  in  his  faith  because  he  does 
not  receive.  For  he  seeks  not  things,  but  God.  Let 
those  who  have  thus  made  “shipwreck  of  faith,”  go 
to  the  Throne  and  ask,  “What  saith  my  Lord  unto  His: 
servant?”  Much  that  is  thought  to  be  faith  (at  least 
in  healing  meetings  where  feeling  runs  high),  is  what 
Mr.  Wilson  calls  “crowd-psychology.”  It  is  to  be 
feared,  because  of  its  temperamental  character.  Let 
the  seeker,  wholly  yielded  to  God,  lay  aside  all  long¬ 
ings  for  healing,  and  cry,  “I  want  Thee,  dear  Lord, 
only  Thee.” 

If  there  is  any  possibility  of  failure ,  why  have  heal¬ 
ing  meetings  at  all? 

God  ordained  that  teaching  shall  be  given  to  com¬ 
panies.  If  one  has  a  testimony,  there  must  be  some 
one  to  hear,  else  God  is  not  glorified.  So,  if  there  is 
anything  in  healing,  the  people  must  be  gathered  to¬ 
gether.  We  do  not  cease  preaching  the  Gospel  to  as¬ 
semblies  because  all  do  not  accept  it.  Does  any  one 
suppose,  in  the  present  state  of  unbelief  respecting 
this  truth,  that  in  every  instance  healing  will  be  given 
to  those  who  present  themselves  for  healing?  That 
would  be  a  most  remarkable  situation.  The  best  that 
can  be  hoped  for  is  that  God  will  glorify  Himself  to 
the  fullest  extent  of  His  ability,  qualified  as  the  at¬ 
mosphere  is  by  the  idiosyncracies  of  men. 

“Is  healing  in  the  Atonement ?,J 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  89 


Dr.  Frank  N.  Riale,  in  his  recently  issued  The  Divine 
Antidote  to  Sin,  Sickness  and  Death,  is  a  present-day 
champion  of  the  doctrine  of  healing  in  the  Atonement, 
pe  presents  an  array  of  testimony  which  delivers  this 
teaching  from  the  charge  of  being  the  hobby  of  an 
assumedly  narrow  set  of  bigots.  He  quotes  Luther, 
who  in  his  commentary  on  Galatians,  remarks, 
'‘Through  Christ  we  are  made  free  from  the  law,  sin, 
death  and  the  power  of  the  devil.”  One  would  be  far 
afield  in  thinking  that  Harnack,  the  German  critic, 
would  have  any  sympathy  with  healing,  yet  he  has 
written,  “Jesus  does  not  distinguish  rigidly  between 
sickness  of  body  and  of  soul.  He  takes  them  both  as 
expressions  of  the  one  supreme  ailment  of  society.” 
Prof.  A.  B.  Bruce,  who  is  not  loth  to  lean  towards 
modernism  at  times,  allows  that  “Christ’s  healing  mir¬ 
acles  are  signs  that  disease  does  not  belong  to  the  true 
order  of  nature;  a  prophecy  that  the  true  order  will 
be  restored.”  Dr.  James  H.  Jackson,  founder  of  the 
Jackson  Sanitarium,  declares,  “There  is  no  more  rea¬ 
son  for  a  saint  being  sick  than  a  sinner.  Jesus  came  to 
show  us  how  God  forgives  all  our  sins  and  heals  all 
our  diseases.” 

More  and  more,  this  aspect  of  the  healing  problem 
is  bound  to  come  to  the  fore.  We  cannot  offset,  save 
by  unreasonble  opposition,  the  high  tide  of  conviction, 
that  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  died  for  our  sins,  is  in  a  mys¬ 
tical  sense  the  bearer  of  our  sicknesses.  When  a  de¬ 
vout  believer  in  the  truth  of  healing  protests,  “I  refuse 
to  endure  what  my  Lord  has  borne  for  me,”  let  us  be 
careful  how  we  modify  that  assurance  by  our  skeptical 
limitations. 

Dr.  R.  E.  Stanton,  a  former  moderator  of  the  Gen- 


90  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


eral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  gives  the 
following  in  his  Gospel  Parallelisms : 

“It  is  my  aim  to  show  that  the  Atonement  of  Christ 
lays  the  foundation  equally  for  deliverance  from  sin 
and  for  deliverance  from  disease ;  that  complete  pro¬ 
vision  has  been  made  for  both ;  that  in  the  exercise  of 
faith  under  the  conditions  prescribed,  we  have  the 
same  reason  to  believe  that  the  body  may  be  delivered 
from  sickness  that  we  have  that  the  soul  shall  be  deliv¬ 
ered  from  sin ;  in  short,  that  both  branches  of  the  deliv¬ 
erance  stand  on  the  same  ground,  and  that  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  include  both  in  any  true  conception  of  what  the 
gospel  offers  to  mankind.  The  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ 
covers  the  physical  as  well  as  the  spiritual  needs  of  the 
race  .  .  .  Healing  of  the  body  is  not,  therefore,  ‘a  side 
issue’  as  some  represent  it.  It  is  no  more  this  than  the 
healing  of  the  soul  is  ‘a  side  issue.’  They  are  both  but 
parts  of  the  same  gospel,  based  equally  upon  the  same 
great  Atonement.” 

Bishop  Charles  H.  Brent,  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
affirms :  “He  who  waives  away  the  healing  power  of 
Christ  as  belonging  only  to  the  early  New  Testament 
times  is  not  preaching  the  whole  gospel.  God  was,  and 
is,  the  Saviour  of  the  body  as  well  as  the  soul.  He 
who  in  Jesus  heals  by  stimulating  spiritual  faculties  to 
appropriate  health  is  not  dependent  on  what  doctors 
can  do,  nor  helpless  when  doctors  fail.  God  is  not  the 
last  resort  in  sickness ;  he  is  the  first.” 

James  Moore  Hickson  pleads,  “A  living  Church  is 
one  in  which  the  living  Christ  lives  and  walks,  doing 
through  its  members  what  He  did  in  the  days  of  His 
flesh.  It  must  therefore  be  a  healing  Church,  as  well 
as  a  soul-saving  Church  .  .  .Spiritual  healing  rightly 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  91 


understood  is  sacramental.  It  is  the  extension  through 
the  members  of  His  mystical  body  of  His  own  incar¬ 
nate  life  .  .  .  He  is  the  same,  yesterday  and  today  and 
forever,  not  only  as  the  Great  High  Priest,  but  the 
Great  Physician  for  every  sickness  of  the  race.” 

Turning  to  the  consideration  of  Matt.  8:17,  we  refer 
to  Thayer  in  his  Greek-English  Lexicon.  He  defines 
“bear”  ( bastaso )  as  to  “take  up  in  order  to  bear  away; 
to  put  upon  one’s  self.”  He  cites  Gal..  5:10  where 
the  word  is  employed  to  indicate  a  bearing  of  the  “con¬ 
demnation  of  the  judge.”  We  note  that  St.  Matthew 
gives  the  fact  of  our  Lord’s  healing  as  fulfilling  the  pre¬ 
diction  of  Isa.  53  :3,  4.  According  to  Lesser’s  trans¬ 
lation  the  reading  is :  “He  was  despised  and  shunned 
by  men;  a  man  of  pains  and  acquainted  with  disease 
.  .  .  but  only  our  disease  did  He  bear  Himself,  and  our 
pains  He  carried ;  while  we  indeed  esteemed  Him 
stricken,  smitten  of  God  and  afflicted.  Yet  He  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He  was  bruised  for 
our  iniquities  .  .  .  and  through  His  bruises  was  heal¬ 
ing  granted  to  us.” 

The  disposition  to  contrast  the  word  “bear”  in  Mat¬ 
thew  8:  17  with  that  of  I  Peter  2:  24  ( phoreo ),  where 
our  sins  are  borne  in  the  body  of  our  Lord,  grows  out 
of  a  reverent  cognizance  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  scru¬ 
pulous  in  His  choice  of  terms.  To  this  we  most  cor¬ 
dially  agree.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  synonyms 
can  be  used.  If  the  contention  is  made  that  St.  Peter 
should  have  used  the  same  word  as  St.  Matthew  did, 
and’  that  the  former  employs  a  term  which  is  always 
associated  with  redemption  work,  the  challenging 
problem  arises,  Why  do  they  both  refer  to  the  same 
prophecy,  if  they  do  not  intend  to  teach  the  same  truth f 


92  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


In  commenting  upon  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon’s  affirmation 
in  the  Doctor’s  book,  The  Ministry  of  Healing ,  wherein 
he  says  concerning  this  question,  “We  hold  that  in  its 
ultimate  consequences,  the  Atonement  affects  the  body 
as  well  as  the  soul  of  man,”  Rev.  R.  V.  Bingham  (  The 
Bible  and  the  Body,  p.  15)  remarks,  “To  that  statement 
no  orthodox  theologian  will  take  exception;  nor  with 
the  further  argument  that  it  is  possible  that  there  are 
present  benefits  that  flow  from  the  Atonement  made 
for  our  sins,  which  affect  in  some  measure  the  health 
and  healing  of  the  body.”  And  after  Mr.  Bingham 
has  offered  objections  to  what  he  sincerely  believes  to 
be  errors  in  the  presentation  of  the  doctrine,  he  con¬ 
cludes  (p.  50),  “We  do  not  want  to  leave  Matthew 
8:17  without  pointing  out  that  in  this  verse  we  are  as¬ 
sured  that  there  is  a  Saviour  who  entered  into  our  sor¬ 
rows  and  sufferings,  who  is  sympathetic  and  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  and  who  is  able  to 
heal  in  His  own  way  and  in  His  own  time  those  who 
for  His  glory  He  sees  fit  to  restore.  There  is  nothing 
in  this  sense  that  changes  the  picture  given  us  in  the 
Old  Testament  of  Jehovah  Rophi,  the  Lord  the  Healer. 
We  believe  that  He  has  not  abrogated  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  covenant  of  healing,  nor  has  ceased  to  work 
through  nature  for  the  restoration  of  His  people,  and 
when  needed,  in  the  supernatural.  Moreover,  when 
sickness  is  the  result  of  sin,  in  His  atoning  work  for 
our  sins  we  have  the  assurance  of  His  willingness  to 
cleanse,  and  with  the  cleansing  we  may  look  to  Him 
for  healing.” 

This  passage,  fully  consonant  with  the  position  of 
Dr.  Riale  and  other  thinkers,  affords  us  the  comfort 
that  we  need  not  eradicate  from  the  Gospel  this  essen- 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  93 


tially  important  healing  passage.  The  problem,  which 
will  always  exist,  lies  in  the  measure  of  appropriation, 
the  degree  of  faith  and  in  the  leading  which  differen¬ 
tiates  between  the  natural  and  the  supernatural. 

Have  we  any  authority  to  apply  Rom.  8:11  to  the 
healing  of  the  body? 

A  large  number  of  believers  in  healing  maintain  that 
we  have.  Another  question,  however,  is  whether  heal¬ 
ing  or  sustained  health  is  the  provision.  Should  Chris¬ 
tians  wait  until  they  are  ill  to  prove  this  promise;  or 
should  the  quickening  be  claimed  day  by  day  for 
physical  freedom? 

In  our  study  of  this  problem,  we  have  to  regard  that 
of  all  the  writings  of  the  Apostle,  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  is  the  most  logical.  The  recognition  of  this 
is  highly  important.  The  constant  use  of  “Therefore/' 
“Now  then/’  “What  then?”  “Even  so,”  “But  what 
saith?”  “But  if,”  “Now  if”  “For  if,”  “I  say  then,” 
“Well,”  confirm  the  contention. 

The  eighth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  illustrates  the 
point.  It  opens  with  the  announcement  of  our  spirit¬ 
ual  emancipation;  then  proceeds  to  the  explication  of 
our  experience  of  fellowship  with  our  Lord  through 
the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  verse  io  the 
dead  body,  so  reckoned  by  the  fact  of  sin,  is  subservi¬ 
ent  to  the  Spirit  of  life.  It  is  that  body  (death-doomed) 
which  comes  to  view  in  verse  1 1,  and  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  to  quicken. 

To  assign  the  provision  of  this  verse  to  the  resur¬ 
rection  period  as  many  teach,  would  do  violence  to  the 
very  logical  order  which  St.  Paul  so  carefully  observes. 
We  do  not  reach  resurrection  experience  until  we  have 


94  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


come  to  the  passage,  verses  17-23.  Then  it  is  that  the 
redemption  of  our  bodies,  identified  with  the  liberation 
of  Nature,  will  vindicate  our  faith  in  the  assured 
“manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.” 

He  is  not  guilty  of  careless  tautology  when  in  I  Cor. 
I5:52"54»  he  employs  the  terms  “corruptible”  and 
“mortal.”  On  the  contrary,  he  sees  the  fine  discrim¬ 
ination  between  the  two;  and  makes  a  masterly  con¬ 
trast.  Those  who  sleep,  in  verse  51,  are  they  who  have 
laid  down  their  corruptible  bodies.  They  who  are  to 
“be  changed”  dwell  in  mortal  bodies.  Clearly  this 
body  in  which  we  dwell  is  mortal  so  long  as  we  ten¬ 
ant  it ;  when  it  dies  it  becomes  a  corruptible  body.  So 
then,  at  His  coming,  our  Lord  will  raise  from  the 
graves,  those  who  have  died,  and  whose  bodies  have 
become  corruptible  thereby;  and  the  mortal  bodies  of 
those  who  are  “alive  and  remain”  (I  Thess.  4:13-18) 
will  be  changed,  translated  (Heb.  11:5). 

We  may  further  observe  that  the  word  “mortal”  is 
uniformly  employed  elsewhere  to  indicate  the  body  in 
which  we  now  tabernacle.  “Let  not  sin  therefore  reign 
in  your  mortal  body”  (Rom.  6:12).  “For  we  which 
live  are  alway  delivered  unto  death  for  Jesus'  sake, 
that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  made  manifest  in 
our  mortal  flesh”  (II  Cor.  4:11).  From  the  same  word, 
thnetos,  the  Apostle  uses  thneton  in  II  Cor.  5 : 4,  mor¬ 
tality,  where  the  reference  to  the  resurrection  is  asso¬ 
ciated  in  his  mind  with  the  translation  of  the  living 
saints. 

There  seems  to  be  a  corroboration  of  this  discrimina¬ 
tion  in  our  Lord’s  own  words  to  Martha  (John  11:25, 
26).  Here  He  declares  to  the  grief-stricken  sister 
of  Lazarus,  that  He  is  the  resurrection  of  those  who 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  95 


having  believed  have  passed  away;  He  is  the  life  of 
those  who  await,  and  are  privileged  to  welcome  Him 
at  His  coming;  of  whom  He  says:  “And  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.” 

If  therefore  the  logical  position  of  the  text  we  are 
considering  excludes  it  from  the  time  of  the  resurrec¬ 
tion,  what  shall  we  do  with  it?  We  are  now  in  our 
mortal  bodies.  Are  we  justified  in  excluding  the  Holy 
Spirit  from  the  quickening  of  those  bodies  which  is 
here  provided?  If  we  are  the  temples  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  (I  Cor.  6:19,  20),  is  there  any  sound  reason 
why,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  He  should  not  be  quali¬ 
fied  to  reach  our  flesh  as  well  as  the  spiritual  realm  of 
our  being?  Let  us  get  our  answer  from  God. 

But  are  we  not  to  understand  that  the  divine  refusal 
to  remove  Paul's  thorn  is  evidence  that  the  Lord  does 
not  will  to  heal  all  who  seek  healing ? 

In  this  undertaking,  I  am  endeavoring  to  show  that 
there  is  a  difference  between  absolute  healing  and  the 
conferment  of  divine  life  for  the  body.  Many  believ¬ 
ers  in  healing  have  never  been  healed  in  the  common 
acceptance  of  the  term;  but  they  know  the  power  of 
the  Lord  to  sustain  them  in  the  face  of  uninterrupted 
pain  or  weakness.  If  they  are  mistaken  in  their  po¬ 
sition,  authority  to  judge  them  will  rest  with  those  who 
do  not  possess  their  experience. 

St.  Paul  was  the  first  of  his  class,  to  which  they 
willingly  belong.  Most  gladly  would  they  be,  as  would 
he  have  been,  immediately  and  effectively  transferred 
from  bondage  to  liberty.  But  they  recognize,  as  he 
did,  another  purpose,  which  spells  healing  to  them,  as 
it  did  to  him.  The  critics  are  far  afield  who  urge  that 


96  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


he  was  denied  his  petition  and  therefore,  we  cannot 
expect  to  be  favored  above  him.  He  was  not  refused 
his  petition ;  for  the  Lord  gave  him  what  was  as  good 
as  deliverance,  by  the  constant  measure  of  divine  life 
which  made  him  “more  than  conqueror”  through 
Christ  who  loved  him. 

We  are  learning  his  lesson  in  other  ways  and  gladly. 
Who  would  not  have  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol¬ 
lars  to  use  for  the  work  of  the  Lord  ?  What  joy  to  see 
to  our  credit  in  the  bank  a  great  sum  which  we  would 
be  free  to  disburse  for  His  glory!  But  the  rule  of 
God  is  to  hold  us  down  to  small  things,  that  we  may 
depend  upon  Him  daily.  We  are  weak  enough  in  our 
faith  to  pray  better,  “Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread” 
when  the  store-room  is  well  stocked.  Yet,  what  con¬ 
quest  has  been  theirs,  who  in  the  face  of  dire  need 
have  honored  the  Lord  by  answered  prayer.  May  we 
not  apply  the  lesson  to  the  realm  of  healing?  Is  not 
the  Lord  as  much  magnified  in  our  constant  depend¬ 
ence  upon  Him  for  physical  endurance,  as  when  He 
gives  us  in  one  stroke  of  His  power,  complete  emanci¬ 
pation  from  all  need  of  seeking  Him  further  for  heal¬ 
ing?  There  are  many  dear  saints  of  God  who  have 
no  uncertain  answer  to  this  interrogation. 

So,  let  us  have  a  right  understanding  of  “Paul’s 
thorn,”  which  is  so  constantly  confronting  us.  If  there 
can  come  to  us  as  much  grace  and  sweetness  as  came 
to  him ;  if  the  Lord  shall  be  as  precious  to  us  as  He 
grew  to  be  to  him,  by  the  process  which  this  experi¬ 
ence  brought  into  this  life,  we  may  well  determine 
that  better  than  healing  was  the  overmastering  life 
he  received.  For  he  was  one  to  whom  was  given  the 
privilege  of  demonstrating  to  the  Church  the  personal 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  97 


experience  of  that  great  army  of  God’s  own,  “who 
out  of  weakness  were  made  strong”  (Heb.  11:34). 
And  he  has  taught  us  out  of  the  richness  of  his  own 
victory,  to  die  daily  that  we  may  live  unto  God  in  the 
life  He  bestows.  But  only  those  who  dwell  deep  with 
Him  can  know  this.  For  it  means  Gethsemane  and  Gol¬ 
gotha,  ere  the  glorious  resurrection  life  of  the  Lord 
can  come  to  dwell  within  us  that  we  may  be  “complete 
in  Him”  (Col.  2:9,  10). 

If  divine  life  for  the  body  was  a  New  Testament 
experience,  Why  did  the  Apostle  leave  Trophimus  sick 
at  Miletum  (II  Tim.  4:20)  ?  Why  did  Bpaphroditus 
(Phil.  2:2 7)  nearly  die?  Why  should  Timothy  be 
plagued  with  an  ailing  stomach  and  “  often  infirmi¬ 
ties”  (I  Tim.  5:23)? 

There  is  a  popular  glamour  over  New  Testament  life 
and  character,  which  grows  out  of  our  ideal  that  there 
must  be  found  there  the  perfection  of  Christian  stand¬ 
ards.  But  if  we  study  the  Epistles  closely,  we  shall 
find  that  those  who  were  called  to  be  saints  were  very 
human,  very  weak  and  oft  in  need  of  chastizement. 
Because  a  man  had  the  distinction  of  being  mentioned 
as  the  companion  or  close  friend  of  the  great  Apostle, 
we  assume  that  he  must  have  lived  a  charmed  life. 

Now,  let  us  get  the  matter  simplified.  There  were 
all  sorts  of  opinions  and  parties  in  the  New  Testament 
churches.  It  was  the  bane  of  St.  Paul’s  ministry  that 
there  should  be  such  low  estimates  of  faith  and  con¬ 
quest.  Would  not  he  and  all  those  identified  with  him 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord  be  affected  by  the  currents 
against  which  they  had  to  contend  ?  Even,  as  we  have 
declared  concerning  our  own  day,  so  it  was  then,  that 


98  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


the  unbelief  of  the  many  thwarted  the  faith  of  the  few. 

The  story  of  Trophimus  is  not  all  told.  We  do  not 
read  that  he  died  of  his  malady.  There  may  have  been 
some  reason  why  it  was  not  God’s  time  to  heal  him 
when  the  Apostle  left  him,  perhaps  in  a  hasty  depart¬ 
ure.  The  scene  might  be  duplicated  in  hundreds  of 
cases  in  our  own  day.  How  much  our  dear  saints  have 
to  learn  which  only  the  quiet  of  the  sick  room  or  the 
tedious  coming  back  to  strength  alone  can  contribute. 
We  are  not  assured  that  we  shall  not  enter  the  “  pit 
and  the  miry  clay.”  Else  where  would  the  new  song 
find  its  inspiration  (Psa.  40:  1-3)  ? 

The  cause  of  the  serious  break-down  of  Epaphro- 
ditus  is  set  forth  in  the  context.  The  Philippians  had 
a  lesson  to  learn.  And  sometimes  God  will  permit  His 
choice  servants  to  fall  under  the  yoke  that  others  may 
be  the  gainers.  Of  course  Epaphroditus  was  healed, 
as  we  see.  Let  us  rid  ourselves  of  our  false  notion 
that  there  existed  in  that  day  a  mysterious  healing  ele¬ 
ment  which  made  the  children  of  God  immune  from 
the  attacks  of  disease  There  was  no  repository  of 
health,  save  as  it  came  from  the  resurrected  Lord. 
And  the  channel  of  conferment  was  not  a  whit  differ¬ 
ent  from  our  own  access. 

That  Timothy  had  a  weak  stomach  and  could  not 
thrive  on  the  germ-infected  water  which  was  provided 
in  the  community  where  he  lived,  touches  us  with  the 
winsome  naturalness  of  the  New  Testament  history. 
While  the  promise  had  been  made  (Mark  16: 18)  that 
deadly  drinks  would  not  hurt  those  that  should  believe, 
we  cannot  assume  that  anyone  would  count  upon  that 
as  a  permanent  experience.  In  our  own  day,  we  have 
had  the  witness  from  the  mission  fields  of  wonderful 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  99 


escapes  from  death  by  the  appropriation  of  this  very 
provision.  But  not  one  of  the  conquering  saints  would 
think  of  making  that  a  constant  test  of  faith.  If 
Timothy  had  to  drink  that  water  once,  he  might  expect 
that  the  Lord  would  deliver  him;  but  for  a  daily 
potion,  the  wisdom  of  his  father-in-God  (I  Tim.  1:2) 
elects  a  more  reasonable  course.  Just  as  with  our 
missionaries  in  China,  where  unsanitary  conditions  for¬ 
bid  the  drinking  of  the  water,  tea  is  employed,  so  in  an 
age  when  wine  was  regarded  as  much  an  accompani¬ 
ment  of  the  daily  diet,  as  our  table  beverages  are  with 
us,  it  would  be  quite  consistent  for  St.  Paul  to  offer 
this  advice.  And  we  may  note  that,  in  all  probability, 
the  need  for  the  counsel  arose  from  Timothy’s  desire 
to  be  “  filled  with  the  Spirit  ”  (Eph.  5:  18)  for  phys¬ 
ical  life,  rather  than  to  take  the  chance  of  being  drunk 
with  wine.  Note  the  words,  “  use  a  little.” 

And  as  to  his  weak  stomach  and  often  infirmities,  we 
are  learning,  as  has  been  already  suggested,  that  our 
God  often  holds  His  own  in  apparent  bondage  to  these 
bodily  conditions,  in  order  that  they  may  not  be 
tempted  to  load  their  systems  with  toxic  deposits  which 
clog  the  tissues  and  lead  to  fatal  disorder.  “  Eat  as 
little  as  you  can,  consistent  with  the  maintenance  of 
flesh  and  strength.”  The  Timothys  are  safe  in  this 
regard ;  and  some  of  them  are  coming  to  thank 
God  for  it. 

How  far  are  we  to  regard  Satan  as  operative  in  the 
illnesses  of  God’s  children,  who  look  to  the  Lord  for 
deliverance f 

That  there  would  not  have  been  any  disease  and 
death,  but  for  the  invasion  in  the  Garden,  of  this  subtle 


100  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


being,  there  is  no  dispute.  God  is  not  the  author  of 
sickness,  as  we  have  already  noted ;  to  some  other 
source  we  must  look.  The  New  Testament  is  not  ob¬ 
scure  as  to  the  solution.  See  Acts  10:38;  Heb.  2:14; 
Luke  13:16.  Surely  God  had  nothing  to  do  with 
Job’s  case  (Job  2:7). 

So  then,  sickness  is  the  product  of  sin.  It  is  not 
essential  that  every  ill  should  flow  from  a  special  trans¬ 
gression.  But  as  sin  is  a  universal  malady,  sickness  is 
its  consequent  ally.  There  is  a  clear  distinction  in  the 
Word  as  to  this.  Many  times  God’s  people  are  found 
in  bondage  because  they  have  departed  from  Him. 
But  returning  to  Him  with  confession  and  the  promise 
of  amendment  always  resulted  in  recovery.  We  may 
be  sure  that,  whenever  the  Christian  of  the  present  day 
is  willing  to  follow  the  simple  path  of  the  Scriptural 
believers,  he  will  stand  more  securely  upon  covenant 
ground  for  healing.  Alas,  we  are  apt  to  be  so  panic- 
stricken  in  the  crisis  that  all  thought  of  the  relation  of 
the  calamity  to  our  deflections  from  God  is  obscured. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  the  problem  which  de¬ 
serves  notice;  and  all  who  walk  with  God  know  the 
experience  full  well.  There  are  times  when  the  op¬ 
pression  of  the  powers  of  darkness  is  so  evident,  when 
the  sequences  are  so  manifest,  that  we  cannot  doubt  an 
intentional  attack  upon  the  body  with  a  view  to  thwart¬ 
ing  some  recognized  call  of  God.  Then,  there  should 
be  a  definite  stand  and  a  stubborn  resistance.  But  we 
must  be  sure  that  we  know  this  to  be  the  case.  Daniel 
was  not  only  kept  waiting  for  the  answer  from  God, 
but  evidently  assaulted  in  his  body  when  some  super¬ 
natural  being  prevented  God’s  messenger  from  coming 
to  him.  (See  Dan,  10:  1-19.)  On  the  other  hand,  let 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  101 


us  have  a  care  how  we  lay  everything  at  the  door  of 
Satan. 

We  do  well  to  wisely  regard  this  being,  whom  the 
Lord  Himself  called  “  the  prince  of  this  world  ”  (John 
12:  31 ;  14:  30)  ;  and  whom  St.  Paul  dignifies  with  the 
title,  “the  god  of  this  world”  (II  Cor.  4:4).  When 
Michael  was  compelled  to  oppose  him,  he  was  not  free 
to  use  a  railing  accusation,  but  simply  committed  the 
matter  to  God  (Jude  9).  Likewise,  humiliated  Joshua 
stands  helpless  until  the  Deity  answers  his  accuser 
(Zech.  3:2).  In  every  case  where  we  have  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  we  have  been  attacked  by  our  adversary,  let 
us  reverently  hide  behind  the  Cross ;  and  submit  our¬ 
selves  to  our  conquering  Lord,  which  will  be  the 
equivalent  to  resisting  him.  This  is  the  secret  of 
James  4:7. 

“  Matt.  J:  22,  2 $  makes  provision  for  unsaved  people 
wHo  accomplish  good  in  the  use  of  the  Name.  How 
can  this  he  explained?  ” 

Reference  to  the  passage  discloses  that  our  Lord 
establishes  the  will  of  His  Father  (v.  21)  in  the  heart 
of  all  Christian  service.  It  was  His  own  passion  (John 
4:34;  6:38;  8:29).  It  was  the  test  of  discipleship 
(Matt.  12 :  46-50).  If  we  get  at  the  evident  will  of  the 
Father,  we  shall  have  our  starting  point.  It  is  the  will 
of  the  Father  that  we  should  believe  on  the  Son  whom 
He  signalized  at  the  baptism  (Matt.  3:17)  and  the 
transfiguration  and  whom  He  perfected  in  the  resur¬ 
rection  (Matt.  17:5;  Rom.  1:4).  See  John  5:38; 
8:44-47;  17:8;  I  John  5:9-12,  20. 

The  writer  of  the  above  question  refers  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Science  system  of  healing  and  others  which  vol- 


102  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


ubly  exploit  the  Name,  but  deny  the  Son.  The  claim 
made  by  these  alien  cults  is  that  as  good  is  done  by 
their  means,  God  is  essentially  behind  their  endeavors, 
blessing  and  honoring  them.  And  the  questioner  is 
troubled.  There  would  seem  to  be  no  answer.  But 
while  Christian  Science  is  named  Christian,  Mrs.  Eddy 
repudiates  the  Biblical  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  by 
asserting :  “  Plato  was  a  pagan ;  but  no  greater  differ¬ 
ence  existed  between  his  doctrines  and  those  of  Jesus 
than  to-day  exists  between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
sects.”  In  her  declaration  that  in  the  man  Jesus  re¬ 
sided  the  Christ  principle,  she  confirms  the  universal 
tenet  of  Buddhism  that  in  all  men  are  elements  of 
divinity  which  are  their  birthright ;  and  that  in  the  case 
of  the  great  teachers  and  prophets,  Jesus  and  Moham¬ 
med  included,  the  differentiation  is  only  in  degree.  So 
that  Christian  Science  relegates  our  Lord  to  the  sphere 
of  exceptional  inspiration,  but  excludes  Him  from  the 
unique  Sonship  which  the  Word  of  God  demands  con¬ 
cerning  Him.  This  St.  John  insists  is  “  denying  :he 
Father  and  the  Son.”  New  Thought,  Spiritism,  and 
all  allied  schools  take  the  same  position  as  to  the  person 
of  our  Lord.  Without  entering  into  a  discussion  of 
their  other  deviations  from  the  revelation  of  the  Word, 
we  simply  rest  the  matter  in  this  sphere  of  belief. 
These  people  are  not  doing  the  will  of  God  as  our  Lord 
laid  down  in  the  law  of  discipleship.  We  say  this  ten¬ 
derly  and  with  full  warrant,  which  a  clear  and  ex¬ 
haustive  study  of  their  entire  systems  will  conclusively 
show.  Our  space  will  not  allow  more  than  this  brief 
reference.  If  we  seem  bigoted,  it  lies  with  our  Lord  to 
defend  us  (in  the  day  of  which  He  speaks),  from  the 
charge  of  narrowness  and  uncharitable  judgment.  We 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  103 


can  never  cease  to  love  the  people  who  embrace  the 
teachings,  while  we  recognize  as  St.  John  did,  the  pres¬ 
ence  in  the  world  of  an  anti-christian  movement  to 
simulate  the  very  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Never  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  has  the  environment  of  the  New 
Testament  life  been  so  fully  reproduced  as  in  our 
own  day. 

Tertullian  in  his  age  met  the  problem,  when  the  same 
conditions  were  ripe  for  challenging  Christianity  to 
recognize  and  honor  these  very  pretentions.  We  may 
quote  him,  as  he  descants  upon  the  works  of  the 
Delphian  sorceress  (the  Spirit  of  Python  in  Acts 
16:  16)  :  “  Very  kind,  too,  no  doubt,  they  are  in  regard 
to  the  healing  of  diseases.  For,  first  of  all,  they  make 
you  ill,  then  to  make  a  miracle  out  of  it,  they  command 
the  application  of  remedies,  either  altogether  new,  or 
contrary  to  those  in  use,  and  straightway,  withdrawing 
hurtful  influences,  they  are  supposed  to  have  wrought 
a  cure.”  We  may  opine  that  in  our  generation  this 
champion  of  the  faith  in  the  second  and  third  centuries 
will  be  condemned  for  his  dogmatism.  But  at  the  risk 
of  the  falling  upon  our  precious  heads  of  the  same 
judgment,  we  believe  he  was  right. 

In  sundry  places  we  are  exhorted  in  the  Word  that 
the  very  works  of  Christian  righteousness  will  be 
wrought  by  hostile  powers  to  deceive  the  saints  of  God. 
And  alas,  the  deception  has  now  reached  wholesale 
proportions.  One  must  walk  very  close  to  God  in  these 
days  if  he  would  be  guarded.  Our  Lord  has  warned 
us  that  even  the  elect  will  be  tested  (Matt.  24:24). 
St.  Paul  defines  Satan  as  an  angel  of  light,  of  whose 
devices  we  are  not  to  be  ignorant  (II  Cor.  2:11; 
11:13-15).  Evidently,  then,  if  these  statements  are  to 


104  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


be  taken  seriously  and  in  connection  with  the  prophecy 
of  the  last  days  (II  Thess.  2:7-12)  which  we  com¬ 
mend  to  the  prayerful  consideration  of  devout  believers 
of  the  Word  of  God,  we  may  not  hesitate  to  reach  the 
conviction  that  the  counterfeit  of  our  Lord’s  works  will 
be  the  subtle  attempt  of  the  Adversary  to  win  the  un¬ 
wary  and  to  confuse  the  loyal.  His  particular  aim  in 
the  contacts  he  makes  with  mankind,  is  to  deceive,  imi¬ 
tate,  disguise  and  beguile  (Rev.  12:9;  20:3,  10,  and 
kindred  passages).  Certainly,  we  have  much  difficulty 
in  persuading  intelligent  Christians  to  accept  this  Bib¬ 
lical  doctrine.  But,  the  whole  problem  of  present-day 
departures  from  the  faith  hinges  upon  the  recognition 
of  the  workings  of  the  powers  of  darkness.  Even 
Christian  ministers,  in  many  instances  are  loth  to  be¬ 
lieve  in  the  Scriptural  presentation  of  the  doctrine. 
We  must  plead  that  if  at  our  Lord’s  judgment  seat,  this 
truth  be  found  to  have  been  a  delusion,  they  who  have 
accepted  it  will  have  nothing  to  their  discredit,  for  they 
can  protest  that  they  believed  only  that  which  was 
written.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  who  have  repudi¬ 
ated  the  Biblical  portraiture  of  Satan  and  his  ministers, 
shall  find  in  that  great  day  that  they  were  deceived, 
what  can  they  say?  Mrs.  Eddy  sweeps  Satan  off  the 
stage  with  the  declaration  that  such  a  being  cannot 
exist;  the  other  cults  of  a  like  nature  take  the  same 
position.  The  psychological  schools  consider  the  the¬ 
ory  (?)  of  a  personal  Devil  as  too  childish  to  be 
acknowledged.  If  our  Lord’s  vision  pierced  the  long- 
drawn  perspective  of  the  last  assize,  and  beheld  there 
a  condemnation  of  those  who  under  false  colors 
operated  their  assumed  works  in  His  name,  we  may 
be  wise  in  cautiously  silencing  our  doubts  as  to  the 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  105 


source  of  their  deception,  and  accepting  the  evident 
mind  which  He  disclosed,  when  He  declared  that  He 
should  then  pronounce  to  those  misguided  dupes,  “  I 
never  knew  you.  Depart  from  me  ye  that  work  in¬ 
iquity.”  Works  of  iniquity  come  not  from  God. 

And  yet,  while  we  must  faithfully  set  before  the 
people  the  dangerous  character  of  these  alien  cults, 
which  employ  the  Christian  nomenclature  and  simu¬ 
late  the  Christian  spirit,  we  must  not  forget  that  there 
are  many  in  the  ranks  who  are  the  Lord’s  dear  chil¬ 
dren.  Much  that  they  now  believe  was  already  taught 
in  the  churches  from  which  they  have  emancipated 
themselves.  They  did  not  forsake  the  religious  homes 
of  their  fathers  on  account  of  the  interpretation  of  the 
faith,  but  for  the  benefit  of  healing  and  associated 
blessings.  In  the  churches,  the  denial  of  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  repudiation  of  Satan  left  them  cold.  The 
same  denial  and  repudiation  of  these  Christian  essen¬ 
tials  in  the  new  cults,  inspires  them  with  a  glow  which 
seems  to  them  the  very  confirmation  of  the  security  of 
their  position. 

We  see,  then,  the  subtlety  of  the  situation.  If  Ter- 
tullian  was  rightrthe  method  is  plain.  Satanic  forces  ] 
operate,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  previous  section,  wher¬ 
ever  illness  exists.  If  the  powers  of  darkness  would  \- 
win,  they  have  only  to  withdraw  their  malignant  touch,  f 
and  healing  comes.  This  they  may  do  in  the  very  field 
of  operation  which  presumptuously  calls  upon  the 
name  of  Jesus ;  while  the  human  workers  under  their 
supervision  think  they  are  honoring  the  Name,  igno¬ 
rant  that  they  are  renouncing  the  person  whom  the 
Name  exalts.  The  human  name  of  Jesus,  founded 
upon  the  earthly  life  of  our  Lord,  but  dissociated  from 


106  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

the  exaltation  of  His  Deity,  is  the  winsome  open 
sesame  to  conquest.  If  Satan  can  keep  the  eyes  of  the 
simple  Christian  people  off  of  the  resurrected  Christ, 
who  through  death  (Heb.  2:  14)  put  him  out  of  busi¬ 
ness,  and  make  “  The  Man  Jesus,”  the  “  Master  ”  of 
whom  we  hear  so  constantly,  the  focal  point  of  faith, 
he  will  succeed  in  alluring  into  these  systems  many 
more.  If  there  be  anything  positively  demoralizing  to 
the  powers  of  darkness  it  is  the  terror  of  judgment 
(James  2 :  19)  which  will  ultimately  fall  upon  them 
for  deceiving  the  world  as  to  the  exaltation  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  the  heavenlies.  And  they  long  to  drag 
others  down  to  their  level.  There  is  a  significance  in 
the  sentence  of  those  who  are  to  be  banished  from 
Him  as  He  sits  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory,  “  Depart 
from  me  ye  cursed  into  everlasting  fire  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels.”  To  secure  as  many  as  he 
can  to  share  his  misery  is  Satan’s  device.  To  lift  as 
many  as  He  can  to  fellowship  with  God,  is  our  Lord’s 
aim.  Matt.  25 :  34-46. 

Apparently,  we  are  arrogant  in  this  presentation  of 
the  problem.  But  we  have  the  entire  New  Testament 
to  sustain  us.  The  will  of  God,  which  is  the  basis  of 
condemnation  of  these  false  workers,  is  the  will  which 
the  combined  testimony  of  evangelists  and  apostles  ex¬ 
tols.  And  that  will  is  that  the  Son  of  God  is  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  exalted,  from  whom  all  power  and 
authority  must  come.  It  is  this,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  teachings  of  these  systems,  which  impels  St.  Paul 
to  write,  “  Though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the 
flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  know  we  him  no  more  ” 
(II  Cor.  5:16). 

So,  from  all  angles,  we  see  the  possibilities  of  heal- 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  107 


ing  power  and  the  working  of  signs  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord,  which  He  must  repudiate,  as  He  predicts  in  the 
text  we  are  considering.  It  were  well  to  read  the 
entire  context:  Matt.  7 :  15-29.  As  we  are  tracing  the 
problem,  we  can  see  that  the  religious  elements  which 
characterize  the  systems  which  are  draining  our 
churches,  and  the  unreligious  factors  which  mark  the 
purely  psychological  schools  challenge  us  who  stand 
before  men  to  magnify  the  risen  and  ascended  Son  of 
God,  to  meet  the  needs  of  men  by  His  own  way  and 
through  His  own  life,  promised  those  who  should  be 
joined  to  Him  through  His  Spirit.  We  cannot  be  ma¬ 
terialists,  as  were  our  forefathers ;  we  must  look  this 
thing  in  the  face.  If  false  religions,  imported  from 
India,  can  heal  the  sick  and  alienate  believers  from  the 
Church  of  the  living  God ;  if  wizards  in  psychology  can 
turn  the  tide  from  invalidism  to  health,  then,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  let  us  who  know  the  Lord  Jesus,  plead 
for  the  power  to  vindicate  Him  and  that  Name,  which 
is  now  used  by  an  occidentalized  heathenism,  to  betray 
souls  into  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  every  inch  of  the  way  will 
be  contested  by  the  evil  spirits  whose  aims  we  would 
be  compelled  to  frustrate.  The  fact  that  they  show 
such  an  array  of  conquests  along  the  line  of  “  peace, 
prosperity  and  power  ”  is  proof  to  us  that  they  are 
strongly  entrenched,  and  bitterly  opposed  to  any  ad¬ 
vance  into  their  lines.  But  souls  are  in  peril  and  we 
must  stand  for  the  truth  “  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus,”  our 
glorified  Lord. 

Christian  Science  and  kindred  systems  embrace  in 
their  propaganda  the  obtainment  of  world-prosperity 


108  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


as  well  as  healing ;  and  their  testimony  seems  to  justify 
their  ideal.  Teachers  of  Christian  healing  in  the 
churches  do  not  so  present  the  truth.  Is  there  a 
reason ? 

“  Peace,  Prosperity  and  Power  ”  is  the  slogan  of 
these  schools.  These  enthusiastic  people  live  to  demon¬ 
strate  wonderful  experiences  of  conquest.  They  all 
triumphantly  cite  financial  acquisitions ;  and  the  New 
Thoughtists  in  some  camps  advance  into  other  fields. 
A  few  instances  will  illustrate:  One  witness  discloses 
that  while  her  neighbors  were  busy  bailing  out  their 
cellars  for  two  days,  more  or  less,  in  a  time  of  inunda¬ 
tion,  she  commanded  the  waters  to  subside;  and  they 
did  in  a  few  hours.  Others  claim  that  while  all  about 
them  the  severity  of  drought  was  parching  the  soil, 
gentle  rains  fell  upon  their  fields  and  gardens.  Con¬ 
trariwise,  in  wet  seasons,  the  genial  sun  shone  down 
solely  upon  their  possessions  in  response  to  their  be¬ 
hests.  Rats  and  mice  have  been  kindly  invited  to 
vacate  the  premises  of  the  devotees  of  this  cult,  and 
they  have  taken  their  departure  with  commendable  in¬ 
telligence  and  consideration. 

Now,  we  all  know  that  the  history  of  the  Christian 
life  all  through  the  ages  has  witnessed  to  similar  ex¬ 
periences.  William  E.  Dodge,  the  eminent  Christian 
philanthropist,  believed  that  his  phenomenal  success  in 
business  dated  from  the  day,  when  as  a  boy  beginning 
life,  he  recognized  and  dedicated  himself  to  the  divine 
command  to  tithe  his  income.  He  lived  to  see  the  day 
when  he  could  comfortably  live  upon  the  tithe  and  give 
the  rest  away.  George  Muller,  on  one  occasion,  be¬ 
calmed  at  sea,  declared  to  the  captain  of  the  vessel  that 
he  must  be  in  port  at  a  given  hour  on  the  following 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  109 


day,  that  he  might  fulfill  an  appointment.  The  captain, 
fully  acquainted  with  the  conditions  obtaining  at  the 
time,  assured  Mr.  Muller  that  such  an  issue  was 
beyond  the  range  of  possibility.  Mr.  Muller  went  to 
his  cabin  and  sought  the  Lord.  In  the  face  of  every 
past  method  by  which  such  a  calm  had  been  known  to 
behave,  a  strong  wind  immediately  set  in  motion  and 
precisely  at  the  hour  mentioned  by  George  Muller,  he 
set  his  feet  upon  the  soil.  Mrs.  Abbie  Morrow,  seeing 
a  swarm  of  flies  about  to  light  upon  the  side  of  her 
newly-painted  house,  asked  the  Lord  that  they  might 
go  elsewhere ;  and  they  did.  But  in  all  such  instances 
there  is  a  humble  seeking  of  the  Lord  for  special  inter¬ 
vention.  William  E.  Dodge  did  not  make  money¬ 
making  the  chief  pursuit  of  life ;  George  Muller  did 
not  set  himself  up  as  superior  to  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  assume  that  in  every  such  crisis  he  would  pursue 
the  like  course ;  nor  yet  Mrs.  Morrow. 

So  far  as  power  over  the  elements  was  concerned, 
our  Lord  could  and  did  exercise  it,  for  He  was  teach¬ 
ing  His  disciples  that  He  was  the  world’s  Creator. 
Because  He  did  it,  these  venturesome  beings  of  whom 
we  are  debating,  believe  that  they  are  as  much  Christ 
in  essence  as  He  was4  (the  difference  being  only  rela¬ 
tive),  and  may  rise  to  His  altitude.  But,  we  do  not 
find  the  apostles  of  our  Lord  assuming  any  such 
prerogatives.  They  reverently  accepted  conditions, 
nature-wise,  with  quiet  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  the 
Lord.  St.  Paul  needed  not  to  endure  the  shipwrecks 
of  Acts  27  and  II  Cor.  11:25,  if  what  these  people 
claim  was  his  authority.  While  we  cheerfully  accord 
that  many  times  in  the  life  of  the  believer,  wonderful 
interpositions  of  our  good  Lord  may  mark  the  journey 


110  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

onward,  we  cannot  make  these  things  the  rule,  the  con¬ 
stantly  to-be-expected  tenor  of  experimentation. 

It  is  upon  the  matter  of  worldly  acquisitions  that  we 
need  to  be  most  carefully  guarded.  Alluring  as  the 
field  of  conquest  is,  we  dare  not  enter  it,  unless  our 
Lord  goes  before  us.  How  did  He  regard  this  present 
life?  We  know  that  He  lived  a  life  of  humiliation  and 
separateness  from  the  world  (Isa.  53:2;  Matt.  8:20; 
17:27;  20:28;  Mark  6:3;  Luke  2:7;  8:3;  8:58;  II 
Cor.  8:9;  Phil.  2:7,  8).  He  discouraged  the  pursuit 
of  wealth  (Luke  8:14;  12:15;  16:14;  21:34);  and 
He  herein  reflected  the  entire  Old  Testament  (Josh. 
7:21;  Job  31:24,  25;  Ps.  10:3;  62:  10;  119:36,  37; 
Prov.  23:4,  5;  28:16;  Jer.  6:13;  22:17,  18;  Micah 
2:2;  Hab.  2:9). 

To  the  poor  the  Gospel  was  preached  (Matt.  11:5; 
Luke  4: 18).  In  the  New  Testament  days,  it  was  the 
lowly  who  received  the  Gospel  (I  Cor.  1 :  18-31).  And 
while  there  are  promises  that  daily  needs  shall  be  sup¬ 
plied  (Matt.  6:11,  24-34;  Phil.  4:11-13,  19;  James 
1:5),  the  pursuit  of  these  things  for  covetous  posses¬ 
sion  was  discouraged  (Luke  12:  15;  Col.  3:  5;  I  Tim. 
6:17;  I  John  2:15).  We  find  in  the  cults  we  are 
considering,  and  which  we  have  been  bold  to  declare  as 
alien  to  the  Christian  faith,  a  well-directed  aim  to  make 
the  most  of  this  life,  even  using  the  precious  Name  of 
our  Lord  as  the  means  of  obtainment.  These  dear 
souls,  for  whom  we  have  the  sincerest  solicitude  and 
affection,  are  just  as  worldly  in  their  lives  as  when 
they  were  half-hearted  church  members.  They  are 
possessed  of  a  free  and  abandoned  sense  that  “  all 
things  ”  are  theirs,  profitable  and  pleasurable,  irre¬ 
spective  of  the  purity  of  their  hearts  in  the  sight  of 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  111 


God.  Goodness  they  seem  to  show ;  happiness  they 
seek  to  reflect ;  patience  they  exemplify ;  withal,  the  be¬ 
trayal  of  selfishness  marks  the  use  they  make  of  the 
appropriated  promises  of  God. 

And  there  is  a  reason.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
I  ventured  to  pronounce  that  Christian  Science  is  occi- 
dentalized  Buddhism.  Christian  Scientists  at  once  ve¬ 
hemently  repudiated  the  allegation.  Now,  a  significant 
incident  at  the  General  Convention  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  recently  held  in  Portland,  Oregon,  confirms 
my  contention.  The  following  is  the  statement  of 
Prof.  J.  L.  Joshi,  of  India,  who  came  to  the  convention 
with  credentials  from  the  Anglican  Bishop  of  Bombay : 

“  It  has  been  a  great  surprise  to  me  to  see  how 
profoundly  the  religious  thought  of  America  is 
being  affected  by  such  movements  as  Theosophy 
and  New  Thought.  The  phenomenal  growth  of 
Christian  Science  is  another  indication  of  the 
gradual  Indianizing  of  the  religious  life  of  a  great 
nation. 

“  The  Church  may  protect  itself  from  this  in¬ 
vasion  in  two  ways.  First,  by  missionary  contact 
with  India ;  and  then  by  the  establishment  of 
chairs  in  the  history  of  ethnic  faiths  in  relation  to 
Christianity  in  the  colleges  and  seminaries  of  the 
Church.  In  the  midst  of  the  growing  paralysis  of 
the  moral  forces  of  the  modern  world,  everywhere, 
the  Christian  faith  offers  the  only  hope  of  the  re¬ 
demption  of  mankind.” 

Believers  in  Christian  healing  according  to  the  Word 
of  God,  confine  themselves  to  the  Biblical  pattern.  The 
healing  of  the  sick  is  enjoined.  So  long  as  the  Church 
was  meekly  walking  in  the  way  of  its  Lord,  with  up- 


112  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


lifted  gaze,  it  fulfilled  the  divine  behest,  ever  since  the 
day  when  St.  Peter  protested  to  the  cripple  at  the  beau¬ 
tiful  gate  (Acts  3),  “  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none.” 
There  is  the  story  of  a  scene  at  the  close  of  a  majestic 
cathedral  service  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  heavily 
loaded  alms  basins  being  emptied  upon  the  vestry  table, 
the  bishop  turned  to  a  pious  mendicant  monk,  with  the 
remark,  “  You  see,  my  brother,  the  Church  need  no 
longer  say,  4  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none/  ”  To  which 
the  monk  meekly  replied,  “  Nor  can  it  say,  ‘  In  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  Rise  up  and  walk/  ” 

If,  then,  these  systems  imitate  the  worldly  Church 
from  the  Christian  side,  they  present  the  Hindoo  aspect 
of  this  world  by  their  wonderful  achievements.  For 
miracles  are  constantly  performed  in  the  land  where 
reincarnation  fixes  all  destiny  as  centering  in  this  globe. 
Consequently,  there  is  every  reason  why  obtainment 
for  the  present  world  should  be  sought  and  obtained  to 
the  full.  Most  of  us  are  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the 
Christian  Science  Hymnal  has  no  hymns  of  the  future 
life.  For  no  future  life  is  apprehended.  As  a  phi¬ 
losophy  of  human  existence  this  school  and  its  allied 
systems  may  be  attractive;  but  for  that  vital  hour  when 
the  things  of  time  are  slipping  away,  there  is  no 
provision. 

When  our  Lord  was  approached  by  Satan,  in  the 
memorable  temptation  in  the  wilderness,  the  very 
process  we  have  traced  was  enacted  and  defeated.  To 
satisfy  His  hunger,  He  was  challenged  to  make  bread 
of  stones;  but  He  would  not  anticipate  His  Father’s 
will.  He  was  to  prove  His  supernatural  power  by 
throwing  Himself  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple;  but 
He  was  in  the  care  of  His  Father  and  there  was  no 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPXEXITIES  113 


incentive  to  perform  the  miracle.  The  Adversary 
would  allure  Him  to  reach,  by  a  short  and  easy  route, 
His  Kingly  prerogatives.  He  need  but  fall  down  and 
for  one  brief  moment,  worship  the  subtle  being  who 
was  seeking  His  downfall. 

We  sadly  opine  that  this  same  Prince  of  this  world, 
of  whom  our  Lord  could  say  (John  14:30)  “he  hath 
nothing  in  me,”  is  charming  precious  souls  along  the 
same  pathway,  who,  unlike  their  Lord,  fall  a  prey  to 
the  temptation.  The  spirit  and  motive  of  this  allure¬ 
ment  is  to  make  the  present  time  and  world  the  end  of 
all  desire.  Hence  the  hunger  for  the  good  things  of 
this  life  which  may  be  demanded  without  qualification ; 
the  proof  of  marvelous  power  is  now  to  be  made  the 
object  of  persistent  purpose  and  power;  to  be  rulers 
over  every  subject  element  is  the  winsome  call  to 
mastery  and  overflowing  gladness. 

What,  we  may  well  ask,  if  this  movement,  authori¬ 
tatively  bearing  the  imprimatur  of  Christianity,  flinging 
out  the  banner  of  our  Lord  Jesus  to  charm  the  unwary, 
should  prove  in  the  last  analysis,  to  be  but  disguised 
paganism,  the  “  gall  of  bitterness  and  the  bond  of 
iniquity  ”  (Acts  8:23)  ? 

Let  us  not  forget  that  the  supreme  incentive  of  the 
true  believer  is  a  passion  for  our  dear  Lord  Jesus 
(John  14:15;  22:23;  8:42;  15:10-14;  21:15-17; 
Matt.  10:37;  I  Cor.  16:22;  II  Cor.  5:14,  15;  Gal. 
5:6;  Eph.  3:16-18;  5:25-33;  Phil.  1:20-23;  3:7-11; 
I  Peter  1 :  8 ;  I  John  2 :  3-5 ;  4 : 19,  20 ;  5  :  2,  3) .  There 
is  a  subtle  imputation  abroad,  that  it  matters  not  by 
whom  Christianity  came  into  the  world.  It  is  here;  it 
is  ours,  with  all  its  potentialities  and  possibilities,  for 
all  that  we  can  make  of  it,  and  get  out  of  it.  Such  a 


114,  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


perversion  is  an  insult  to  the  Son  of  God,  and  defeats 
the  intention  of  the  Father  to  exalt  Him  (Phil.  2:9- 
11).  Unless  in  all  things  He  shall  have  the  preemi¬ 
nence  (Col.  1:18),  whether  in  the  individual  con¬ 
sciousness,  or  in  the  universal  consummation  of  destiny 
(Eph.  1 :  10),  there  must,  of  necessity,  be  a  flaw  in  the 
title-deed  of  redemption.  Therefore,  the  true  believer 
sinks  all  self-seeking  in  the  death  and  burial  of  his 
Lord  (Rom.  6:  4-11 ;  Col.  3:3).  To  know  Him  is  the 
sublimation  of  all  pursuit  (Phil.  3 :  10;  II  Tim.  1 :  12)  ; 
to  suffer  with  Him  in  His  humiliation  is  the  crown  of 
all  conquest  (Col.  1 :  24 ;  II  Tim.  2:11,  12)  ;  to  be  with 
Him  in  His  glory,  to  behold  His  face,  as  He  receives 
His  kingdom  and  power,  is  the  reward  for  all  sacrifice, 
the  compensation  for  every  loss  (Luke  21:34-36; 
John  14:3;  Col.  3 :  4 ;  I  John  3:2,  3 ;  Rev.  5 :  9,  10) . 

Should  not  healings  he  subjected  to  scientific  tests f 

The  Churchman  (Episcopal)  urges  that  “a  commis¬ 
sion  of  the  wisest  men  in  the  Church,  especially  those 
who  have  studied  the  questions  involved,  be  appointed 
and  armed  with  authority  to  call  before  them  wit¬ 
nesses,  to  examine  published  statements  of  the  various 
schools  of  mental  healing,  and  to  prepare  a  careful 
report  with  such  recommendations  as  may  be  deemed 
useful.” 

This  suggestion  grows  out  of  an  unsympathetic  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  work  of  Mr.  Hickson,  which  has  already 
been  disclosed  in  our  study.  Perhaps  this  is  the  place 
to  record  the  convictions  of  the  Right  Reverend  H. 
Pakenham  Walsh,  D.D.,  Anglican  Bishop  of  Assam, 
who  has  seen  Mr.  Hickson’s  work  at  close  range.  He 
writes  in  the  International  Review  of  Missions: 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  115 

“  The  healing  missions  of  Mr.  J.  M.  Hickson  in 
India,  China,  and  Japan,  have  set  missionaries  to 
asking  whether  it  is  not  the  Lord’s  will  to-day  in 
heathen  lands,  as  in  the  early  days,  to  4  confirm  the 
Word  by  signs  following.’  The  fascinating  story 
of  St.  Paul’s  healing  work  among  the  pagans  of 
Melita,  and  its  extraordinary  effect  as  an  adjunct 
to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  makes  one  wonder 
whether  we  in  our  missionary  work  are  neglecting 
a  great  opportunity  of  showing  forth  the  love,  the 
power  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  Healer  of  body, 
mind  and  spirit.  And  then,  the  visions  of  the 
great  crowds  of  the  sick,  of  all  sorts  and  condi¬ 
tions,  Christian,  Hindu,  Mohammedan,  Buddhist, 
Animist,  rich  and  poor,  high  caste  and  low  caste, 
educated  and  illiterate,  white  and  dark-skinned — 
who  knelt  together  before  one  Father  in  heaven 
at  place  after  place  in  Mr.  Hickson’s  missions,  and 
looked  up  in  faith,  to  Christ,  for  healing,  has  made 
many  realize  how  terrible  and  how  widespread  are 
the  sufferings  of  humanity  in  Eastern  countries, 
and  how  fragile  are  the  barriers  which  divide  men, 
in  the  face  of  the  great  common  suffering  caused 
by  disease.  The  record  of  missionaries  and  others 
concerning  these  missions  gives  evidence  of  re¬ 
markable  and  sudden  cures,  including  total  blind¬ 
ness,  deafness,  and  dumbness,  from  birth;  also  of 
many  gradual  cures,  and  above  all,  of  spiritual 
blessings,  both  to  the  sick  and  to  those  who  prayed 
with  them,  and  evidences  a  clear  call  for  all  mis¬ 
sionaries  to  ponder  this  new  development  with 
careful  thought  and  earnest  prayer.” 

Returning  to  the  Churchman  challenge,  may  we  not 


116  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


offer  the  hint  that  while  scientific  investigation  of  heal¬ 
ings  effected  by  metaphysical  or  otherwise  mental 
processes  might  be  quite  consistently  pursued,  there  is 
a  sacred  doubt  of  the  propriety  of  the  like  submission 
in  cases  which  are  believed  to  have  been  of  the  Lord’s 
working  in  answer  to  prayer?  When  a  trusting  child 
of  God  seeks  and  obtains  healing  from  his  Lord,  the 
transaction  is  so  holy,  that  the  thought  of  investigation 
by  coldly  disposed  critics  is  abhorrent. 

Should  a  man  be  required  to  tell  how  he  loves  the 
woman  of  his  choice ;  what  are  the  incentives,  the  inner 
workings  of  his  heart?  Who  could  think  of  such  a 
tribunal  ?  The  assumption  of  the  need  of  such  a  com¬ 
mission  is  itself  an  act  of  unbelief.  It  has  never  come 
from  those  who  have  known  the  power  of  the  Lord  to 
heal.  The  sweetness  of  the  divine  fellowship,  the  ten¬ 
derness  of  the  divine  touch,  the  conviction  of  the  divine 
truth,  the  joy  of  the  divine  life — these  things  surely  are 
immeasurably  beyond  the  skeptical  touch  of  those  who 
do  not  sympathize  with  the  experience.  A  man  who 
has  been  healed  by  the  Lord,  like  the  one  born  blind 
(John  9)  confesses  likewise,  “  one  thing  I  know.” 
Certainly,  the  knowledge  of  God  as  embraced  by  the 
devout  child  of  God  is  incapable  of  explication  to  those 
who  have  not  had  that  impartation.  “  A  stranger  doth 
not  intermeddle  with  his  joy  ”  (Prov.  14:  10). 

What  would  be  the  advantage  of  the  proposed  com¬ 
mission?  Should  it  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  some 
healings  are  genuine  and  others  doubtful,  the  status 
would  remain  just  as  it  does  now.  For  that  is  pre¬ 
cisely  what  the  writer  in  the  Churchman  implies.  If 
all  healings  were  spurious,  the  entire  movement  should 
be  condemned;  if  there  is  anything  in  the  movement  to 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  117 


challenge  the  faith  of  the  Church,  the  test  lies  not  in 
understanding  by  scientific  processes  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  but  in  coming  before  Him  in  humble  teachable¬ 
ness  that  we  might  know  His  will. 

Some  years  ago  when  talking  with  a  friend  of  the 
medical  profession  on  the  matter  of  spiritual  healing, 
I  pleaded,  “  But  you  would  believe  if  a  case  of  cancer 
were  supernaturally  healed.”  “  No,”  he  replied,  “  I 
should  say  that  the  diagnosis  was  wrong.”  Just  such  a 
case  came  to  my  knowledge  a  few  years  ago.  A  young 
woman  was  examined  by  one  of  the  best  specialists  in 
his  line.  He  pronounced  her  afflicted  with  cancer  of 
the  breast ;  and  imperatively  ordered  an  immediate 
operation.  As  she  was  not  close  to  her  friends,  she 
begged  that  she  might  confer  with  them  and  arrange 
her  affairs,  preparatory  to  a  possible  demise.  They 
persuaded  her  to  attend  a  meeting  where  prayer  was 
offered  for  healing.  She  went  forward  to  be  anointed. 
As  the  prayer  of  faith  was  being  presented  over  her 
and  the  anointing  oil  applied  to  her  forehead,  she  felt 
an  excruciating  pang  of  pain ;  but,  like  Miss  Williams 
(see  p.  83),  she  refused  to  acknowledge  the  attack, 
saying  quietly,  “  Yes,  Lord,  Thou  art  taking  it  away. 
I  thank  Thee.”  When  she  returned  to  the  specialist  at 
the  allotted  time,  his  examination  of  her  elicited  from 
him  this  declaration,  “  There  must  have  been  a  mistake 
in  the  diagnosis !’  This  man  would  rather  record  ari 
error  to  his  own  discredit  than  acknowledge  that  God 
had  wrought  a  healing. 

Can  we  not  see  that  any  commission  of  scientific 
men,  entering  the  realm  of  the  divine  working  would 
essentially  defile  the  sacred  precincts  of  a  hallowed 
transaction  between  God  and  His  child?  How  can 


118  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


they  understand  the  process?  Of  course  their  verdict 
would  lie  along  the  line  of  the  two  men  we  have  noted. 
Certainly  then,  there  is  but  one  answer  to  the  Church¬ 
man  proposal :  Have  all  the  commissions  you  will  to 
investigate  mental  healings ;  but  pause,  reverently 
pause,  ere  you  catechize  a  child  of  God  regarding  the 
operations  of  the  Father  in  behalf  of  His  own. 

Why  should  not  the  principles  of  psychology  he  ap¬ 
plied  to  Christian  healing? 

This  question  is  pertinent  to  some  preceding  para¬ 
graphs.  It  really  comes  from  the  same  source.  Mr. 
Edward  Macomb  Duff,  replying  to  the  Churchman, 
writes : 

“  I  gather  from  your  editorial  that  you  would 
counsel  the  Episcopal  Church  to  wait  for  and 
weigh  the  testimonies  of  experts  in  the  field  of 
psychotherapy,  among  them  several  distinguished 
clergymen  who  have  had  valuable  experience  as 
practitioners  therein. 

“  Might  I  suggest  that  if  we  are  to  consider 
psychotherapy  at  all,  we  consider  it  from  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  those  experts  who  are  really  posted  as  to 
all  that  it  can  do.  The  Emmanuel  Movement  (of 
which  the  distinguished  gentlemen  named  are  the 
chief  sponsors),  bases  its  psychotherapy  upon  the 
writings  of  practitioners  who  hold  that  its  efficacy 
is  limited  to  nervous  disorders  and  functional 
maladies.  I  wonder  if  these  gentlemen  and  others 
in  the  Emmanuel  Movement  will  outgrow  this 
scientifically  exploded  theory?  Europeans  know, 
if  Americans  do  not,  that  the  Nancy  School 
(France)  under  the  leadership  of  Emile  Coue  has 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  119 


found  psychotherapy  just  as  efficacious  for  or¬ 
ganic  diseases  as  for  functional  maladies. 

“  During  Coue’s  thirty  years  of  practice,  in 
which  many  thousands  of  cases  have  been  treated, 
he  has  found  that  organic  troubles  yield  as  easily 
as  functional;  that  bodily  derangements  are  even 
easier  to  cure  than  nervous  and  mental.  He  makes 
no  distinction.  An  illness  is  an  illness  whatever  its 
nature.  As  such  Coue  attacks  it,  and  in  ninety- 
eight  per  cent,  of  cases,  he  attains  in  greater  or 
less  degree,  a  positive  result. 

“  Why  should  ministers  of  the  Gospel  attempt 
the  practice  of  psychotherapy  any  more  than  the 
practice  of  materia  medica?  Their  proper  field  is 
the  spiritual  sphere.  In  that  sphere  they  will  find 
prayer  and  the  Word  as  the  ever  available  means.” 

In  the  next  section  we  shall  apply  ourselves  to  the 
study  of  Coue’s  work.  Sufficient  to  say  now  that  he 
does  not  pray  with  his  patients.  When  asked  what 
place  he  would  give  to  God  in  his  undertaking,  he  re¬ 
plied  that  he  could  not  introduce  religion,  because  he 
deals  with  Jews  as  well  as  Christians,  Mohammedans, 
Turks  and  atheists.  “  But  if  you  wish  to  say,”  he 
added,  “  By  the  grace  of  God,  you  may.”  In  his  prac¬ 
tice,  he  assures  all  that  the  healing  is  not  in  himself, 
but  in  the  patient.  He  compels  each  person  to  work 
upon  that  idea.  Himself,  healthy,  happy  and  care-free, 
he  radiates  gladness  and  hope  by  his  very  presence. 
That  he  enters  his  clinic  smoking  a  cigarette  seems  to 
add  charm  to  his  ministry. 

We  perceive,  then,  the  confirmation  of  the  contention 
made  in  the  consideration  of  Dr.  House’s  elucidation 
of  the  psychology  of  orthodoxy.  The  psychical  and 


120  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


the  spiritual  are  distinctly  divorced ;  they  can  never 
be  united. 

In  his  retort  to  the  Churchman,  Dr.  Abbott  further 
pleads : 

“  The  power  of  prayer  !  The  power  of  prayer ! 
What  in  heaven’s  name  have  psychotherapy  and 
the  new  psychology  and  all  the  rest  of  process 
analysis  and  application  got  to  do  with  it  all?  To 
ask  in  His  Name  is  to  receive  whatever  He  wills 
to  give;  to  seek  in  His  Name  is  to  find  whatever 
He  wills  to  reveal ;  and  to  walk  in  His  Name  is  to 
have  the  door  of  His  love  opened  wide. 

“  Let  us,  then,  be  fair,  absolutely  fair  and  just 
in  this  whole  matter.  Let  us  cast  no  aspersions,  as 
your  editorial  does,  upon  Mr.  Hickson,  nor  upon 
anybody  else,  who  in  utmost  sincerity  and  humil¬ 
ity  is  trying,  God  obviously  helping  him,  to  do  his 
best  in  this  consecrated  business.  We  are  round¬ 
ing  out  the  circle  of  cure  in  the  divine  method ;  we 
are  not  trying  to  squeeze  its  circumference  within 
the  limits  of  humanly  devised  systems  of  thought.” 

In  what  measure  may  we  apply  the  Coue  method  to 
Christian  healing ? 

The  reference  in  the  last  section  suggests  that  there 
is  no  place  for  Coue’s  method  in  Christian  healing. 
And  yet  there  is  somewhat  that  may  be  acquired  from 
a  study  of  his  work. 

Let  us  understand  that  he  is  a  practical  psychologist. 
He  leaves  the  finer  definitions  of  the  schools  to  those 
who  desire  to  investigate  them,  and  digs  at  once  into 
the  soil  of  psychological  pathology.  He  does  not  care 
what  you  call  things  if  only  you  get  them.  You  may 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  121 


be  religious  and  add  God  to  your  achievements ;  you 
may  be  an  agnostic  and  count  God  out.  Coue  is 
demonstrably  competent  to  prove  to  our  American 
psychologists  who  want  to  link  healing  in  the  Church 
to  their  principles,  that  there  is  no  ground  of  union. 
For  as  Coue  has  no  need  for  Christianity  in  his 
cures,  so  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  turn,  requires  no  aid 
from  psychology  in  the  workings  of  His  mighty 
power  in  the  bodies  of  consecrated  believers.  More  of 
this  later  on. 

Coue  reverses  the  principles  of  the  psychological 
schools  in  his  dictum,  that  not  the  will  but  the  imagi¬ 
nation  operates  for  cure.  He  holds  that  to  forcefully 
demand  of  the  will  the  required  potency  for  healing  is 
to  defeat  the  healing.  The  basis  of  his  method  is  that 
all  volition  rests  upon  the  action  of  the  subconscious 
mind  wherein  the  imagination  resides.  Therefore,  our 
American  psychologists  who  sound  out  the  slogan, 
“  The  Will  to  be  Well,”  are  to  acquire  a  new  vision  of 
the  possibilities  of  psychological  dynamics.  When  the 
imagination  rises  to  the  seat  of  control,  the  elements 
of  healing  respond  in  action.  Confessedly,  the  distinc¬ 
tion  is  difficult  to  discern;  but  he  stands  for  it  in  con¬ 
trast  to  others  of  his  class. 

He  protests  ( Self-Mastery  Through  Conscious 
Autosuggestion ,  p.  88),  “I  have  no  magnetic  fluid;  I 
have  no  influence;  I  have  never  cured  anybody.”  He 
maintains  that  all  healing  resides  in  the  person.  One 
has  only  to  believe  this  and  his  malady  must  disappear. 
He  enjoins,  “  Have  confidence  in  yourself ;  believe 
firmly  that  all  will  be  well.”  While  this  disclaimer  is 
sincerely  made,  he  approves  of  hypnotism ;  and  there 
can  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  employs  it  when  he 


122  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


meets  certain  patients  who  are  slow  to  apprehend  his 
simple  system.  A  paralytic  woman  lies  before  him. 
Looking  her  closely  in  the  eye,  he  declares,  “  You 
know  there  is  nothing  in  me.  It  is  all  in  yourself.  Do 
you  believe  this  ?  ”  The  very  countenance  gleaming 
with  command  compels  the  woman  to  say,  “  Yes,  I  do.” 
“  Then,”  he  orders,  44  Get  up  and  walk.”  And  she 
does.  The  miracle  is  wrought.  She  leaves  his  clinic 
thrilling  with  new  life.  Nor  is  the  cure  but  a  tempo¬ 
rary  suspension  of  the  paralytic  condition.  She  reports 
in  due  time  that  she  is  perfectly  well.  He  has  a  catalog 
of  patients  who  have  never  had  a  return  of  their  dis¬ 
orders.  And,  as  we  suggested  in  the  last  section,  his 
operations  extend  into  all  realms  of  physical  and  men¬ 
tal  ailments ;  consumption  in  its  last  stages,  dementia, 
cancer,  typhoid.  Everything  that  flesh  is  heir  to  is 
included  in  his  triumphs.  Even  congenital  complica¬ 
tions  are  included. 

We  might  allow  for  the  volatile  quality  of  the 
French  mentality,  if  only  his  own  people  were  em¬ 
braced  in  the  category  of  his  cures.  But  the  American 
announcement  of  his  book  reads,  44  All  London  is  re¬ 
peating  :  4  Day  by  day,  in  every  way,  I  am  growing 
better  and  better/  ”  This  is  the  set  formula  which 
Coue  advises  his  patients  to  use.  They  may  tie  knots 
in  a  cord  and  make  a  rosary  of  it,  in  order  to  comply 
with  the  required  number  of  repetitions ;  and  44  all 
London  ”  staid  and  solid,  is  getting  44  the  habit.” 
Nothing  succeeds  like  success;  and  Coue  has  the 
secret. 

We  may  not  be  surprised  or  shocked  to  learn  that  he 
applies  his  methods  to  44  sex  control.”  While  we  might 
argue  with  him  as  to  this,  we  cannot  resist  his  per- 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  123 


suasiveness  when  he  presents  the  laudable  truth  that 
the  life  of  a  child,  mentally  and  spiritually,  begins  in 
the  early  life  of  its  parents.  His  counsel  to  mothers  is 
well  worth  digesting. 

Monsieur  Coue  takes  no  fees.  Whatever  his  thank¬ 
ful  patients  insist  upon  offering  him  in  recognition  of 
his  services,  he  applies  to  the  disabled  French  soldiers 
and  others  who  have  suffered  because  of  the  war. 
This  element  in  his  practice  heightens  his  popularity 
and  puts  to  shame  the  pseudo  Christian  cults  which 
exalt  prosperity  for  its  own  sake. 

We  now  seek  to  discover  wherein  we  may  profit  by 
Coue’s  method. 

First,  His  challenge  that  healing  resides  in  us,  puts 
us  to  the  proof  of  the  Biblical  contention  that  in  us 
dwelleth  “  no  good  thing.”  The  New  Testament  in¬ 
sists  that  God  can  work  only  where  there  is  an  utter 
sense  of  emptiness,  of  nothingness.  See  Rom.  7:18; 
Col.  3 :  3  ;  II  Cor.  4:7,  10,  1 1 ;  6 :  9,  10;  12:  7-10.  But, 
we  perceive  that  this  emptiness,  this  nothingness  pre¬ 
pare  for  the  dynamics  of  God.  He  can  live  in  us  only 
in  the  measure  in  which  we  are  willing  to  die  (Gal. 
2:20)  ;  He  can  work  in  us  only  to  the  extent  of  our 
inability  to  work  ourselves  (Isa.  45:24;  Phil.  2:  13). 
But  is  not  this  everywhere  the  plea  of  the  Word  of 
God?  Where  is  human  self-sufficiency  commanded  in 
the  entire  volume?  Can  we  not  see  that  if  there  is  a 
power  in  the  world  which  is  working  to  displace  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  the  source  of  life,  there  could  be  no 
better  method  than  to  employ  that  which  Coue  success¬ 
fully  operates?  We  may  seem  narrow  and  unchari¬ 
table  in  such  a  statement.  For  many  of  the  objects  of 
this  unselfish  ministry  are  professing  Christians,  who 


124  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


leave  Coue’s  presence  with  praises  to  God  ringing  in 
their  hearts.  Mark — we  may  not,  we  do  not  decry  the 
endeavors  of  this  man.  The  medical  authorities  are 
beginning  to  do  that.  We  may  be  grateful  for  the  re¬ 
lease  which  he  brings  to  suffering  humanity.  But  the 
subtle  tendency  to  convey  healing  contrary  to  the  re¬ 
vealed  Word  of  God  is  too  transparent  to  be  ignored. 
We  have  allowed  over  and  over  again  that  pure  psy¬ 
chology  is  a  beneficent  agency  in  the  healing  realm ;  we 
have  expressed  commendation  of  it.  But,  it  is  not  the 
Lord’s  healing,  in  the  Lord’s  way.  For  when  He  gives 
life  He  seeks  to  be  supreme  in  the  heart. 

Therefore,  when  Dr.  Worcester  and  his  school  insist 
that  failure  to  recognize  psychology  as  the  medium  for 
the  conferment  of  Christian  healing  must  bring  the 
matter  of  such  healing  into  confusion,  we  turn  to  Coue 
for  the  answer.  When  Dr.  House  declares  that  psy¬ 
chology  is  “  the  guardian  of  the  supernatural,”  we  turn 
to  Coue  for  the  refutal.  Coue  says  there  is  nothing 
supernatural  in  his  healings.  And  he  is  the  greatest 
practical  psychologist  of  the  day. 

Second,  We  remark  that  Coue  has  no  place  for 
prayer,  as  has  been  suggested.  We  do  not  know  that 
he  even  believes  in  prayer,  though  he  has  the  inner 
sense  of  the  being  of  God.  When  Dr.  House  decides 
that  “  The  psychology  of  prayer  shows  it  to  be  power¬ 
ful  autosuggestion,”  Coue  reinforces  the  declaration. 
There  is  no  need  for  prayer  according  to  Coue.  For 
all  that  prayer  can  accomplish  resides  in  the  bosom  of 
the  man  who  offers  it.  Dr.  House  and  Coue  both  reach 
the  same  conclusion ;  but  each  stands  in  a  contradictory 
position  regarding  the  other.  Coue  affirms  that  religion 
is  not  necessary ;  Dr.  House  contends  that  by  psychol- 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  125 

ogy  our  Christian  faith  can  be  more  clearly  discerned, 
our  Christian  potentiality  more  definitely  and  com¬ 
pletely  realized.  Between  these  men  lies  the  challeng¬ 
ing  and  burning  truth  which  the  Church  must  face. 
And  that  is  that  psychology,  either  that  of  Monsieur 
Coue  or  that  of  Dr.  House,  is  alien  to  the  realm  of  the 
workings  of  God’s  Holy  Spirit. 

But  Monsieur  Coue  affords  us  some  valuable  les¬ 
sons.  Standing,  as  we  do,  on  the  Word  of  God,  recog¬ 
nizing  that  we  are  utterly  empty  for  God’s  infilling,  we 
can  see  that  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  inspires  his 
patients  is  ours  to  possess  and  exercise.  “  The  joy  of 
the  Lord  is  your  strength  ”  (Neh.  8: 10).  “  Rejoice  in 
the  Lord  always ;  and  again  I  say  rejoice  ”  (Phil.  4:4). 
There  is  a  reading  of  Psa.  50 : 23  which  conveys  the 
deep  meaning  of  this  truth.  “  Whoso  offereth  me  the 
sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  glorifieth  me  and  prepareth 
a  way  that  I  may  show  him  the  salvation  of  God.” 
Coue  contends  that  only  by  insisting  upon  a  finished 
work  of  healing  can  the  patient  be  made  well.  We  may 
do  this  in  the  realm  of  praiseful  joy  in  our  Lord  Jesus. 

Is  it  not  a  sin  to  consult  a  physician  or  to  use  means, 
if  one  is  trusting  the  Lord  for  healing ? 

God  is  a  loving  Father,  and  applies  His  graces  to 
His  children  according  to  their  capacities.  Not  all 
men  have  the  faith  for  healing.  But  they  may  have  in 
other  lines.  George  Muller,  the  great  apostle  of  faith 
in  the  19th  Century,  feeding  thousands  of  orphans 
daily  and  otherwise  caring  for  them,  who  would  not 
permit  his  helpers  or  even  himself  to  state  to  any  in¬ 
quirer  what  the  immediate  needs  of  the  Orphanages 
were,  felt  led  on  one  occasion,  when  one  of  his  own 


126  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


children  lay  ill  of  scarlet  fever,  to  bow  in  trustful  peti¬ 
tion  for  the  supernatural  healing  which  he  felt  God 
alone  could  give.  An  immediate  answer  was  granted. 
But  George  Muller  testified  that  he  never  again  re¬ 
ceived  that  impulse;  and  in  all  future  cases,  he  relied 
upon  the  wisdom  of  the  physician  and  the  efficacy  of 
the  medicines.  This  illustration  affords  us  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  warn  God’s  people  to  be  very  sure  that  they 
have  His  own  conferred  faith  ere  they  seek  to  gain  the 
conquest.  Much  that  is  thought  to  be  faith,  by  those 
who  have  “  obtained  promises,”  may  be  but  exercising 
the  residuum  of  confidence  left  over  from  some  pre¬ 
vious  triumph.  George  Muller  was  wise ;  and  we  do 
well  to  put  ourselves  where  he  stood.  But,  let  us  all 
live  in  the  Thirteenth  Chapter  of  First  Corinthians, 
daily  seeking  to  know  the  will  of  the  Lord,  for  every 
testing  time. 

But  what  shall  he  done  in  a  crisis ?  Should  peril¬ 
ously  sick  believers  he  left  to  die f 

Certainly  not.  The  life  for  which  we  are  pleading  is 
designed  to  forefend  the  believer  for  the  crises.  A 
possible  reading  of  Matt.  6:16,  “And  lead  us  not  into 
temptation,”  may  be  “  Keep  us  from  a  crisis.”  The 
subsequent  petition  in  the  prayer,  “  And  deliver  us 
from  the  Evil  One  (Revised),”  interprets  the  ground 
of  the  sought  protection.  Crises  are  Satanic  in  their 
origin  and  purpose.  The  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God 
(Col.  3:3)  is  the  shield.  Those  who  are  seeking  to 
live  that  life  and  to  conform  to  the  spiritual  laws  which 
govern  it,  may  expect  to  be  garrisoned.  But  what  if 
they  are  unselfishly  devoted  to  the  care  of  those  who 
cannot,  or  do  not  wish  to  grasp  it?  In  this  lies  that 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  127 


balance  of  “  right  judgment  ”  which  is  the  quality  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  confer. 

Those  who  stand  on  the  material  plane,  Christians, 
as  well  as  non-Christians,  deserve  and  should  have  the 
very  best  that  doctors  and  medicines  can  contribute. 
We  have  no  controversy  with  the  medical  fraternity. 
We  agree  with  Mr.  Hickson  and  Mr.  Wilson  in  their 
position  that  where  faith  is  not  adequate  to  meet  the 
crisis,  God  would  have  us  do  the  thing  that  reason  and 
limited  faith  would  inspire. 

And  we  may  allow  that  any  believer  may  come  into 
a  crisis,  even  a  believer  in  spiritual  healing.  If  in  that 
crisis,  the  sudden  attack  dims  the  vision  and  paralyzes 
the  faith  of  both  the  stricken  one  and  those  who  pray 
for  him,  which  is  supposable,  the  only  recourse  is  to 
seek  the  guidance  of  the  Lord.  A  personal  experience 
may  be  applicable. 

Twenty  years  ago,  Mrs.  Mackenzie  awakened  me 
about  five  in  the  morning,  having  suffered  from  one 
o'clock  with  severe  pains  and  high  fever.  I  saw  at 
once  that  pneumonia  was  present.  We  did  not  have  a 
family  physician,  but  a  friend,  a  specialist,  was  asked 
to  stop  on  his  way  to  the  station  and  diagnose  the  case. 
He  confirmed  my  opinion  and  urged  that  we  get  a  prac¬ 
titioner  immediately.  After  his  leaving,  we  took  it  to 
the  Lord  and  spent  the  day  in  close  walking  with  Him 
for  His  mind.  On  the  return  of  our  medical  friend  in 
the  evening,  he  was  annoyed  that  we  had  not  gotten  a 
doctor,  but  witnessed  that  an  unaccountable  change  had 
come  over  Mrs.  Mackenzie.  The  fever  had  abated, 
the  chest  was  eased,  the  respiration  almost  normal. 
His  pleasure  was  manifest.  But  the  test  came  when  he 
said,  “  She  is  all  right  now.  Come  up  to  my  office  and 


128  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


I’ll  give  you  a  simple  cough  mixture  to  allay  the 
irritation.” 

•  As  he  had  been  so  kind,  we  did  not  think  there  could 
be  any  harm  in  this  innocent  procedure.  But  what 
happened  proved  our  error.  Within  five  minutes  of 
the  taking  of  the  first  spoonful  of  the  apparently  harm¬ 
less  decoction,  everything  came  back  galloping  in  en¬ 
ergy  and  threatening  in  complications.  We  saw  our 
blunder,  we  repented;  but  we  could  not  get  where  we 
had  stood.  In  the  morning  it  was  imperative  that  a 
doctor  should  be  summoned.  Acting  according  to  our 
Lord’s  mind,  as  we  were  able  to  grasp  it,  we  called  in 
the  man  of  whom  we  had  heard  that  he  gave  very  little 
medicine.  He  filled  our  need  by  simply  watching  the 
case;  refusing  at  the  request  of  the  nurse  to  give  any 
heart-depressant  to  control  the  fever.  Mrs.  Mackenzie 
recovered  in  half  the  time  ordinarily  required  and  had 
a  wonderfully  rapid  convalescence,  which  we  believe 
came  from  the  trust  we  placed  in  the  Lord,  even 
though  we  had  disappointed  Him,  as  it  would  seem, 
when  He  had  really  taken  the  case  in  hand. 

We  recall  the  two  cases  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
afford  the  spiritual  man  a  method  of  interpretation  of 
faith,  both  as  illustrating  the  difference  between  be¬ 
lievers  and  the  deviating  periods  in  a  single  believer’s 
experience.  We  read  of  Ezra  that  on  his  second  re¬ 
turn  to  Jerusalem  (Ezra  8),  he  was  ashamed  to  require 
of  the  king  a  band  of  soldiers  and  horsemen  to  help 
against  the  enemy  in  the  way.  He  therefore  pro¬ 
claimed  a  fast  and  held  a  prayer  meeting  definitely 
trusting  God  to  protect  the  entire  company  from  the 
marauders  that  infested  the  highways  at  the  time. 
This  was  to  walk  with  God  alone,  that  He  might 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  129 


glorify  Himself  independent  of  all  earthly  props. 
Nehemiah,  on  the  other  hand,  not  a  whit  less  trustful, 
but  otherwise  minded,  boldly  asked  of  the  king  a  co¬ 
hort  for  his  safe  conduct  (Neh.  2:6). 

A  study  of  these  two  men  affords  us  the  occasion  to 
note  that  personal  characteristics  enter  largely  into  our 
method  of  dedication  to  the  Lord  and  the  measure  of 
our  faith  in  Him.  Ezra  is  deeply  spiritual;  he  is  ab¬ 
sorbed  in  the  study  of  the  Word  of  God ;  he  has  im¬ 
bibed  the  sweet  juices  of  the  Scriptures ;  the  unseen 
things  are  vital  to  him ;  God  is  very  real  and  near. 
Nehemiah  is  a  hustler.  He  knows  God,  too,  for  his 
prayer  that  the  Lord  would  grant  him  mercy  in  the 
sight  of  the  king  (Neh.  1:11)  when  he  was  to  make 
his  request  for  a  leave  of  absence,  proves  that  he  had 
the  vision  of  prayer  and  embraced  its  dynamics.  Yet, 
in  the  portrayal  of  his  consecration,  we  can  see  that  the 
Word  qualifies  him  with  an  entirely  different  attitude 
and  capacity. 

I  am  sure  we  may  reach  the  solution  of  the  problem 
before  us  in  the  contemplation  of  these  two  men,  how 
they  illustrate  different  personalities  in  the  life  of 
faith;  and  picture  to  our  own  hearts  the  differing 
moods  with  which  we  ourselves  live  the  life  of  faith. 
Let  the  quiet  Ezras  feel  not  impatient  with  the  bustling 
Nehemiahs ;  may  the  ever-active  and  venturesome 
Nehemiahs  hold  the  deeply  spiritual  Ezras  as  worthy 
of  honor. 

Do  not  the  Scriptures  afford  illustrations  of  the  use 
of  means,  divinely  commended f 

Yes.  But  was  the  use  of  the  means,  or  God  Himself, 
the  ground  of  the  real  healing?  Let  us  look  into  the 


130  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


matter.  In  Exodus  15:25,  we  read  that  when  Moses 
cried  unto  the  Lord  at  the  behest  of  the  people,  a  tree 
was  ordered  to  be  cast  into  the  waters  that  were  bitter, 
and  they  became  sweet.  But  in  the  next  verse,  not  the 
tree,  but  Jehovah  is  defined  as  the  source  of  healing, 
whether  of  waters  that  are  bitter  or  of  bodies  that  are 
ailing.  Is  this  exceptional  use  of  a  tree  to  sweeten 
water  a  warrant  for  treating  all  such  waters  thus? 

When  there  was  “  death  in  the  pot,”  Elisha  cast  meal 
into  it,  and  the  death  was  removed  (II  Kings  4:38- 
41).  Has  any  one  assumed  to  make  meal  a  specific  for 
such  a  condition,  in  subsequent  days?  Will  meal  turn 
a  toadstool  into  an  edible  mushroom?  Likewise  (II 
Kings  2:  19-22),  a  new  cruse  with  salt  was  utilized  to 
quicken  the  stagnant  waters,  but  the  Lord  distinctly 
affirms,  “  I  have  healed  these  waters.” 

Hezekiah’s  boil  has  been  a  fruitful  cause  for  discus¬ 
sion  in  this  field  of  controversy.  We  may  finally  de¬ 
termine  that  if  Hezekiah  was  healed  by  the  plaster  of 
figs,  then  we  have  a  Biblical  specific  for  prolonging  the 
life  of  a  man  fifteen  years,  who  has  the  sentence  of 
death  resident  in  his  body.  The  facts  of  the  narrative 
are  these :  God  had  declared  through  Isaiah,  “  Set  thine 
house  in  order,  for  thou  shalt  die,  and  not  live.” 
Hezekiah  prayed  for  healing.  God  heard  his  prayer. 
After  Hezekiah  had  offered  his  praises  for  the  divine 
deliverance,  then  it  was,  we  may  assume,  that  Isaiah 
prescribed  the  plaster  for  the  boil.  Why?  Because 
Hezekiah’s  faith  needed  bolstering.  If  we  will  read 
the  entire  38th  chapter  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  we 
shall  see  that  while  God  had  given  a  sign  to  the  Judean 
king  that  He  would  heal  him,  Hezekiah  had  required 
the  sign.  They  who  trust  God  implicitly  do  not  seek  a 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  131 


sign  (Matt.  12:30).  The  plaster  on  Hezekiah’s  boil 
is  the  evidence  that  the  man  was  not  wholly  capable  of 
standing  alone  with  God.  Reference  to  John  9  dis¬ 
closes  that  the  man  was  born  blind.  Did  our  Lord  put 
the  clay  upon  his  eyes  to  give  him  sight?  Then,  we 
should  have  a  universal  specific  for  blindness,  even 
congenital.  Nay,  we  all  know  that  it  was  done  to 
stimulate  the  man’s  faith. 

Grouping  these  representative  instances  into  one 
thought,  we  may  assume  that  our  loving  God  bends 
His  dealings  with  His  children  according  to  their  abil¬ 
ity  to  receive  His  healing  power.  Repeating  Mr.  Hick¬ 
son’s  dictum,  “  God  will  meet  you  where  He  can  find 
you ;  and  He  will  give  you  as  much  as  you  are  able  to 
take,”  we  must  accord  a  generous  margin  to  the  ordi¬ 
nary  faith,  which  has  not  yet  reached  the  superlative 
altitudes.  As  Dr.  Simpson  has  aptly  put  it, 

“  God  has  His  best  for  those  who  dare  to  stand 
the  test; 

He  has  His  second  choice  for  those  who  will 
not  have  His  best.” 

Do  not  surgical  operations  belong  to  a  realm  where 
faith  is  impotent  to  act ? 

In  every  experience  of  healing,  the  power  of  the 
supernatural  is  unquestionably  equal  to  the  severest 
demands.  But  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  cli¬ 
mactic  nature  of  the  disorders  which  require  the  knife. 
They  grow  with  such  rapidity  and  threaten  with  such 
malignity,  that  the  average  believer  is  rarely  capable  of 
standing  alone  with  God.  We  all  know  of  instances 
where  victory  has  been  given ;  but  our  eyes  may  not 
have  opened  to  another  evidence  of  our  dear  Lord’s 


132  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

tender  care  in  the  cases  where  surgical  aid  has  been 
allowed,  when  faith  could  encompass  the  problem  only 
by  this  means.  Need  we  discard  faith  in  such  a  crisis? 
Will  submission  to  this  procedure  invalidate  former 
conquests  and  paralyze  future  triumphs? 

I  have  in  mind  one  very  dear  friend,  who  naturally 
expected  God  to  heal  her  of  a  large  tumor,  as  He  had 
delivered  her  in  sundry  less  serious  ailments.  She 
clung  to  Him,  sought  the  intercession  of  trusted  be¬ 
lievers  and  triumphantly  claimed  her  healing.  It  did 
not  come.  Then,  guidance  was  sincerely  asked,  and 
her  family  was  greatly  relieved  when  she  consented  to 
an  operation.  Months  after  the  ordeal,  I  had  a  con¬ 
versation  with  her  surgeon,  who  knew  nothing  what¬ 
ever  of  her  spiritual  life  or  her  stand  regarding  the 
Lord’s  care  of  her  body.  He  declared  that  when  he 
opened  her,  he  was  minded  to  give  up  in  despair.  Such 
a  condition,  he  had  never  faced.  Could  he  save  her 
life?  There  seemed  no  chance.  But  the  memory  of 
her  sweet  face  nerved  him  to  venture.  The  tumor 
he  removed  was  a  surgical  curiosity,  which  he  kept  in 
his  office  for  the  enlightenment  of  his  professional 
friends.  He  conscientiously  believed  that  never  had 
such  a  feat  been  performed.  But  I  knew  where  lay 
that  wonderful  reversal  of  his  fears.  I  knew  what 
gave  her  a  convalescence  which  was  a  delight  to 
herself  and  all  who  loved  her.  For  some  reason 
which  she  could  not  understand,  the  healing  was  not 
granted ;  but  God  did  give  her  a  memorable  exhi¬ 
bition  of  His  sustaining  power;  and  to  this  day  she 
praises  Him  for  that  experience.  And  so  do  I  in  her 
behalf. 

As  we  have  already  enjoined,  let  us  again  plead  that 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  133 


we  shall  hold  the  inner  life  so  open  to  Him,  our  daily 
walk  so  close  to  Him,  our  sense  of  His  care  and  keep¬ 
ing  so  preciously  dear  to  our  hearts,  that  we  shall  claim 
and  expect  immunity.  The  danger  of  delaying  to 
exercise  faith  until  we  reach  some  trying  exigency  is 
close  to  us  all.  How  easy  to  toy  with  our  spiritual 
opportunities,  to  postpone  our  prayer  periods,  to  rest 
in  yesterday  and  its  achievements !  The  while  our 
loving  Lord  is  waiting  for  us  and  the  whole  hearted¬ 
ness  which  He  cherishes  and  seeks;  and  which  we  all 
confess  He  rightly  deserves.  The  healing  movement  has 
had  epochal  manifestations.  They  are  always  possible. 
But  the  Holy  Spirit  should  guard  us  from  venturing 
upon  advances  for  which  He  has  not  prepared  us ;  and 
He  will,  if  we  are  willing  and  obedient  in  the  day  of 
His  power. 

Is  it  not  right  to  be  healed  according  to  the  imll  of 
God ,  zvhether  it  means  visible  healing  or  not ? 

As  to  what  are  visible  means  and  what  is  visible 
healing,  personal  experience  alone  can  answer.  A 
breath  of  fresh  air,  taken  with  zest,  is  a  visible  means ; 
to  choose  whole  wheat  bread  in  preference  to  that  made 
of  bolted  flour;  to  eat  plenty  of  fruit;  to  enjoy  a  cup  of 
tea ;  to  take  a  needed  nap;  to  dry  the  wet  feet ;  to  warm 
the  chilled  body ;  these,  and  other  similar  attitudes  and 
actions  are  of  the  visible  type.  They  do  not  in  the 
least  preclude  the  faith  in  the  Lord’s  care  for  which 
we  are  pleading.  It  is  the  use  of  such  means  without 
the  thought  of  Him  which  is  our  contention. 

As  to  what  shall  be  the  use  of  means  therapeutically, 
one  has  no  way  of  deciding.  Coffee  is  a  table  drink; 
there  is  no  ban  against  it  by  the  mass  of  people  who 


134  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


profess  the  faith  of  spiritual  health  for  their  bodies ; 
so  as  well  is  tea,  “  the  cup  which  cheers  and  does  not 
inebriate.”  But  chemically,  they  are  both  poisons  in 
attenuated  form.  So  also  is  strychnine.  Truth  to  tell, 
there  is  about  the  same  stimulation  to  the  nervous  sys¬ 
tem  in  a  one-sixtieth  grain  tablet  of  strychnine  as  there 
is  in  a  cup  of  strong  coffee ;  and  the  strychnine  has  this 
advantage,  that  it  has  no  damaging  effect  upon  the 
tissues  of  the  stomach;  and  no  reaction,  such  as  coffee 
drinkers  are  wont  to  experience.  The  difference  is  that 
custom  has  made  the  one  drug  a  daily  accompaniment 
to  our  dietary ;  the  other  is  committed,  as  it  should  be, 
to  the  judicious  administration  of  the  physician.  The 
illustration  might  be  amplified. 

So  the  problem  must  lie  with  the  believer’s  walk 
with  God.  He  will  decide  the  matter,  if  He  is  rever¬ 
ently  sought  for  guidance.  I  might  cite  the  case  of 
Mrs.  E.  Bedell  Benjamin,  a  devoted  friend  of  Dr. 
Cullis  and  a  strong  adherent  of  the  principles  of  divine 
healing.  Mrs.  Benjamin  came  to  my  office  on  one  oc¬ 
casion  to  declare  that  she  had  been  taken  with  diph¬ 
theria  the  week  before.  She  concealed  it  from  her 
family  as  long  as  she  felt  was  wise.  On  learning  of 
her  condition,  they  were  frantic,  and  she  submitted  to 
the  visit  of  a  physician.  His  remedy  seemed  to  help 
her.  Then  longing  to  give  the  Lord  the  glory  of  her 
restoration,  she  stopped  the  medicine.  When  she  came 
to  me,  the  symptoms  had  become  aggravated  to  an 
alarming  degree.  Her  quest  was,  “  What  shall  I  do  ?  ” 
And  she  laid  the  responsibility  of  the  answer  upon  me. 
I  was  led  to  remind  her  that  our  parenthood  is  pat¬ 
terned  upon  that  of  God’s.  In  such  an  exigency,  we 
should  be  very  tender  with  our  children ;  He  cannot  be 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  135 


less  so.  So  I  advised  that  we  should  ask  Him  to  give 
evidence  of  His  will  by  either  allowing  the  trouble  to 
continue;  or  if  He  would  have  the  entire  care  of  her 
case  to  make  the  healing  so  evident  at  six  o’clock  in  the 
evening  (a  time  of  the  day  when  such  disorders  are 
most  accentuated)  that  there  could  be  no>  question. 
Accordingly  we  knelt  in  prayer  for  this  sign  of 
His  will. 

That  afternoon,  I  held  a  Bible  reading  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  city  (New  York)  at  which  I  did  not  ex¬ 
perience  any  surprise  in  seeing  Mrs.  Benjamin.  In¬ 
deed,  the  morning  episode  had  faded  from  my  mem¬ 
ory.  At  its  close,  she  invited  me  to  ride  with  her  (in 
a  closed  coupe)  as  far  as  I  was  expecting  to  go.  We 
neither  of  us  thought  of  the  danger  of  contagion ;  I 
wonder  now  how  we  could  have  been  oblivious  of  it. 
At  six  o’clock,  she  went  to  the  light  by  the  side  of  her 
dresser  and  by  her  hand  glass  discovered  that  not  a 
trace  of  the  diphtheria  patches  could  be  seen.  The 
whole  trouble  had  gone. 

And  so,  I  believe  our  God  is  calling  us.  On  the  one 
hand,  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  thoughtless  and  irreverent 
way  we  treat  our  bodies,  by  flying  to  all  sorts  of  nos¬ 
trums  regardless  of  what  may  be  His  plan  for  us ;  on 
the  other,  of  stubbornly  holding  to  a  position  in  which 
the  vital  force  of  faith  is  lacking  and  only  a  determined 
opposition  to  any  human  help  occupies  its  operative 
realm. 

Should  we  he  fussy  about  our  food ,  if  we  are  trust¬ 
ing  the  Lord  for  our  bodies ? 

Indeed,  we  should  not.  Fussiness  is  not  faith;  it 
destroys  faith.  There  are  wise  ways  of  eating;  and 


136  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


since  we  must  eat  and  drink,  wisdom  becomes  us.  I 
well  recall  that  in  the  early  days  of  the  movement,  dear 
saints  of  God  were  wont  to  declare  that  the  Lord  had 
given  them  the  ability  to  defy  the  discretion  of  their 
former  days  and  they  were  eating  anything  and  every¬ 
thing  they  once  could  not.  Allowing  for  this,  which 
might  or  might  not  be  His  permanent  will,  we  have 
gotten  beyond  the  first  outbursts  of  conquest.  A  rea¬ 
sonable  concept  of  the  hallowed  nature  of  our  bodies, 
coupled  with  the  dedicated  purpose  to  eat  and  to  drink 
to  His  glory  (I  Cor.  10:31)  restrains  the  immoderate 
claims  of  the  novice. 

One  point  regarding  food  needs  prayerful  consider¬ 
ation.  Look  carefully  into  I  Tim.  4:4,  5.  The  apostle 
is  speaking  of  eating  of  meats.  This  will,  for  our 
purpose,  embrace  all  food.  God  has  created  such  “  to 
be  received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe 
and  know  the  truth  ”  (I  Tim.  4:3).  We  may  in¬ 
terpolate  here  that  this  classification  cannot  include  the 
much  that  goes  for  modern  ideals  in  cookery,  indi¬ 
gestible  mixings  of  starches  and  fats,  highly  seasoned 
dishes  which  assault  the  stomach  and  unreasonable 
combinations  of  acids.  Good,  simple,  wholesome  food 
is  in  the  perspective. 

The  text  we  are  considering  places  a  value  upon  our 
receiving  the  gifts  of  God  in  such  a  spirit  that  the 
nutritive  value  of  our  food  shall  be  enhanced  by  the 
manner  with  which  we  accept  it.  It  cannot  be  sancti¬ 
fied  by  the  Word  of  God  and  by  prayer,  if  we  eat  as 
do  the  beasts,  with  no  conscious  relation  of  our 
gracious  Giver  to  it.  Our  ordinary  “  Grace  ”  at  meals 
is  a  meaningless  procedure.  The  call  of  this  text  is 
that  we  shall  intelligently  and  devoutly  receive  the  food 


HEALING  PROBLEMS;  PERPLEXITIES  137 


we  eat  with  the  intent  that  He  shall  qualify  it  with 
special  sustenance  in  our  behalf.  Is  it  too  much  to 
declare  that  food  thus  eaten  must  be  more  nutritious, 
more  free  from  poisonous  results,  more  sanctified  in 
every  way  than  if  taken  with  utter  indifference  to  God 
in  the  bestowment  of  the  gifts,  and  the  incorporation 
of  His  life  as  we  eat  them? 

The  unique  quality  of  the  manna  in  the  wilderness 
lay  in  its  being  but  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the 
inward  life  which  He  gave  to  His  people.  They  did 
not  live  on  the  manna ;  they  lived  on  God.  This  is 
clearly  set  forth  in  Deut.  8 : 3  and  quoted  by  our  Lord 
(Matt.  4:4).  When  they  scorned  the  manna  they 
repudiated  Him.  And  there  can  be  no  question  that  to 
those  who  will  put  themselves  into  the  current  of  His 
life,  there  will  be  a  like  conferment  of  vitality,  through 
the  food  they  eat,  prayerfully  and  thankfully  received 
and  incorporated  with  the  sanctification  of  the  Word 
of  God.  If  this  seems  like  a  mystery,  we  have  no  plea 
to  offer  but  the  plain  and  unqualified  statement  of  the 
Apostle.  He  certainly  would  not  employ  such  terms  to 
express  the  mind  he  held,  were  he  not  inspired  with  the 
belief  of  their  intrinsic  value  to  the  believing  saint. 
Those  who  prefer  to  live  on  the  animal  plane  may  do 
so.  If  we  elect  to  make  the  highest  use  of  our  spir¬ 
itual  privileges  in  this  realm,  we  are  entitled  to  all  that 
our  God  has  promised  through  His  servant. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OUR  MORTAL  FLESH. 

When  the  Psalmist  uttered  the  memorable  words, 
“I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made”  (Psa. 
139:  14),  he  sounded  a  note  which  finds  a  response  in 
the  heart  of  every  reverent  thinker.  For  only  a  re¬ 
ligious  man  can  apprehend  the  nobility  of  our  mortal 
estate.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  present-day 
movement  for  better  bodies  has  grown  from  the  Chris¬ 
tian  consciousness  of  the  relation  that  God  should  bear 
to  our  physical  frame. 

The  Greeks,  with  this  aspiration,  named  man 
anthropos,  the  up-looker,  the  being  with  an  erect  spine. 
The  Scandinavians,  who  gave  us  the  word  man ,  signi¬ 
fied  by  the  designation,  the  thinker.  But  man  can 
think  only  as  he  links  himself  to  the  Creator  who  has 
endowed  him  with  thought  functions.  We  are  being 
challenged  now  by  a  trained  intellectuality,  marked  by 
materialism  or  the  heathenish  doctrine  of  the  imper¬ 
sonality  of  God.  But  when  a  man  comes  to  himself, 
he  wants  some  better  basis.  John  Stuart  Mill  was 
brought  up  by  his  father  entirely  without  religion. 
The  result  was  that  Mill  reached  such  a  point  of  pes¬ 
simism  as  threw  a  pall  over  life.  He  did  find  refuge 
in  the  nature  poems  of  Wordsworth;  and  believed 
therein  lay  some  food  for  the  hunger  of  his  soul.  But 
we  all  know  that  Nature,  fascinating  in  her  forms  and 
ever  varying  expressions  of  life  and  beauty,  can  be 
woefully  cruel.  Drummond,  in  his  Ascent  of  Man , 

138 


I 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESH  139 

tried  to  trace  the  pulsations  of  love  in  her  cold  bosom ; 
but  the  thinkers  of  his  day  were  not  convinced  that  he 
had  succeeded.  Romanes,  after  renouncing  the  Chris¬ 
tian  faith,  confessed  that  he  had  lost  all  joy  in  living. 
Happily,  he  returned  to  his  former  beliefs  and  was  the 
stronger  for  the  sad  experiment.  Papini  has  written 
his  Life  of  Christ,  out  of  the  fervor  of  a  heart  that 
knew  the  barrenness  of  living  apart  from  Him. 

With  the  uplooking  capacity,  with  thinking  minds, 
we  are  not  only  to  trace  the  lines  of  destiny  which  mark 
our  way  spiritually,  but  discern  through  spirituality, 
the  meaning  of  the  flesh  life.  We  are  challenged  to 
ask,  Why  have  I  this  body?  How  am  I  to  make  the 
best  use  of  it?  To  seek  an  answer  from  Nature,  as  we 
face  the  intricacies  by  which  life  is  at  times  entangled, 
is  to  drive  us  to  despair.  For  Nature  has  no  hand  to 
uplift  the  fallen,  to  defend  the  helpless ;  no1  voice  to 
comfort  the  broken-hearted ;  no  solutions  for  our  prob¬ 
lems,  no  balm  for  our  aching. 

As  we  enter  the  realm  of  Christian  faith,  we  find 
devout  men  associating  the  flesh  with  God,  just  as  did 
the  Psalmist  whose  words  we  have  quoted.  David  ex¬ 
presses  his  craving  for  Him  in  the  appeal,  “  My  flesh 
longeth  for  thee”  (Psa.  63:1).  Again,  “  My  flesh 
and  my  heart  fail ;  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart 
and  my  portion  forever”  (Psa.  73:26).  In  Prov. 
4 : 22,  we  read,  that  response  to  the  call  of  wisdom,  by 
the  followers  of  the  way  that  wisdom  shows,  will  re¬ 
sult  in  “  health  ”  to  the  flesh.  St.  Paul  includes  the 
flesh  in  his  estimate  of  the  faith  which  he  exercises  in 
Christ  (Gal.  2:20)  ;  he  exalts  the  body  to  the  plane 
of  the  temple  of  the  Spirit  of  God  (I  Cor.  6:  19),  and 
in  his  own  physical  experience  delineates  his  entire 


140  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


dependence  upon  God  for  health  sustenance  (II  Cor. 
4:10,  11;  12:7-10). 

In  former  times,  the  flesh,  divorced  from  the  spir¬ 
itual,  was  condemned  to  separateness  and  ignominy. 
Saints  of  old,  thinking  to  purify  themselves  of  bestial 
tendencies,  castigated  their  bodies  with  intolerable 
severity ;  they  dreamed  of  and  longed  for  the  glad  day 
when  they  should  cast  off  “  this  vile  body  ”  (which  we 
all  know  is  not  vile,  but  humiliated,  according  to  Phil. 
3:21)  and  move  out  into  the  heavenly  realm,  where 
there  is  no  more  reminder  of  the  flesh.  But  we  are 
learning  to  put  the  human  body  where  it  belongs,  and 
where  God  first  put  it  as  the  most  beautiful  product  of 
His  love  and  power.  To  be  sure,  it  is  humiliated  now, 
as  we  shall  subsequently  discover.  But  let  us  be  as¬ 
sured  that  when  we  see  a  human  body  besotted  by 
fleshly  indulgences,  disfigured  by  sin,  writhing  in  pain, 
laid  low  in  weakness,  imperfectly  formed,  deficient  of 
normal  capacities,  responding  to  the  corrupting  in¬ 
fluences  which  hold  it  in  the  bands  of  perversion,  that 
is  not  God’s  order. 

There  is  much  yet,  however,  that  inspires  us  with 
awe  as  we  contemplate  the  human  frame. 

The  hands,  right  and  left,  reciprocally  acting  each 
in  its  own  sphere,  both  completing  the  most  effectual 
possibilities,  present  a  marvel  of  accomplishment. 
How  mighty  to  strike  the  forceful  blow ;  yet  how  deli¬ 
cate  to  build  the  tiny  watch.  Serviceable  for  labor,  the 
ten  fingers  earn  the  support  of  the  great  mass  of  hu¬ 
manity  ;  the  while,  those  fingers  can  be  trained  to 
traverse  the  range  of  the  musical  instrument  with 
entrancing  results. 

The  eyes,  beholding  no  more  than  the  brute  sees,  so 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESK 


141 


far  as  outward  perception  goes,  are  so  conditioned  that 
they  convey  to  the  mind  a  sense  of  delight  in  the  con¬ 
templation  of  the  beautiful,  evoking  reverence  from 
thankful  hearts  to  the  God  who  has  made  the  earth  for 
the  habitation  of  the  sons  of  men.  Have  we  ever  tried 
to  comprehend  why  it  is  that  we  know  things  to  be 
beautiful  when  the  eye  has  discerned  them?  How  can 
we  determine  what  is  attractive,  what  repulsive  ?  It  is 
not  a  matter  of  studied  culture.  It  resides  in  our  in¬ 
tuitional  being.  The  law  of  optics,  by  which  vision  is 
translated  to  the  inner  consciousness  is  one  of  the  most 
marvelous  in  all  nature.  Vibrations,  accurately  re¬ 
corded,  present  to  the  retina  multiform  expressions  of 
form  and  color,  the  eye  being  the  passive  agent  upon 
which  these  potencies  play  their  ceaseless  activities  in 
ever-varying  degrees  of  force  or  delicacy. 

The  ear  is  likewise  a  wonder  of  workmanship. 
Here,  the  vibrations  in  the  ether  register  with  unfailing 
fidelity,  sound  waves,  producing  delight  as  well  as 
qualifying  for  the  service  of  life  in  the  callings  to 
which  men  are  assigned.  Every  note  on  the  musical 
scale  scores  an  exact  number  of  vibrations  per  second, 
which  never  varies ;  and  every  musical  ear  is  charmed 
or  distressed  as  these  vibrations  produce  harmony  or 
discord.  Thus  the  ear  is  related  to  the  mind  in  a 
ceaselessly  gratifying  union. 

The  human  voice  demonstrates  a  capacity  for  range 
and  modification  which  is  the  wonder  of  science. 
From  the  lower  notes  of  the  baritone  to  the  exquisite 
trilling  of  the  skilled  soprano,  the  possibilities  of  ex¬ 
pression  are  almost  boundless.  And  when  the  voices 
blend  in  harmony,  the  musically  endowed  hearers  are 
thrilled  with  delight.  Beautiful  as  are  songs  of  the 


142  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


birds,  there  is  in  them  a  uniform  and  unchanged  ex¬ 
pression;  but  human  beings  can  invent  new  combina¬ 
tions  and  give  form  to  inspiriting  thought  through  the 
musical  sensibilities. 

The  exercise  of  the  organs  of  the  body  affords  us 
another  and  entrancing  revelation  of  the  dignity  of  the 
temple  in  which  we  dwell.  We  breathe  with  our 
lungs ;  but  they  respond  to  a  provision  in  the  atmos¬ 
phere  which  ever  remains  fixed.  The  loving  Being 
who  brought  us  into  life,  has  ordained  that  just  so 
much,  not  more,  not  less,  shall  be  the  component  parts 
of  oxygen,  hydrogen  and  nitrogen  by  which  the  atmos¬ 
phere  shall  be  vitalized,  for  our  health  and  comfort. 

The  digestive  and  assimilative  processes  are  so 
ordered  that  only  the  elements  which  afford  life- 
producing  potencies  are  received  by  the  system  with 
appreciation.  We  are  renewed  by  the  food  we  eat; 
but  there  must  be  in  us,  and  there  is,  the  capacity  to 
appropriate  from  that  food  the  sustenance  with  which 
it  is  qualified.  So  that  life  material  is  met  by  life 
unseen  in  us. 

The  heart,  the  organ  which  day  and  night  serves  us 
for  health  and  comfort,  from  the  first  breath  unto  the 
last,  is  an  amazing  illustration  of  the  wonder  of  the 
human  body.  In  physical  well-being,  the  owner  is  not 
conscious  of  its  existence;  yet  that  organ  exercises  a 
power  almost  beyond  our  ability  to  comprehend. 
When  the  heart  is  beating  at  the  rate  of  seventy 
pulsations  a  minute,  it  equals  in  dynamic  force  that  of 
a  240th  horse-power  engine.  In  twenty-four  hours,  the 
amount  of  energy  expended  by  this  silent  organ  would 
parallel  that  of  a  man  of  150  pounds  weight,  climbing 
a  mountain  1,300  feet  high. 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESH 


143 


For  many  years,  the  office  of  the  spleen  was  not 
known.  Now,  we  are  aware  that  it  is  the  territory  for 
the  germination  of  the  white  blood  corpuscles,  the 
phagocytes,  which  possess  the  ability  to  absorb  or  en¬ 
velope  bacteria  of  an  alien  and  attacking  nature.  The 
red  corpuscles  are  impotent  to  resist  these  invaders ; 
and  the  phagocytes  rush  as  well-trained  soldiers  to 
defend  the  system  from  disease ;  and  like  brave  soldiers 
invariably  give  their  lives  in  the  battle.  The  mystery 
of  this  provision  is  a  marvel  to  students  of  anatomy 
and  physiology. 

We  are  impressed  with  the  qualification  of  the  flesh 
to  suffer.  The  brute  which  sickens,  dies  usually  in  a 
brief  period.  Man  may  be  tortured  by  pain  or  pros¬ 
trated  with  exhaustion,  yet  live  on  for  years ;  the  finer 
qualities  of  his  being  responding  to  that  mysterious 
process  which  we  call  purification.  May  this  not  be 
in  the  Apostle’s  mind  when  he  records  that  “  there  is 
one  flesh  of  men,  another  of  beasts  ”  (I  Cor.  15 : 39)  ? 
Those  who  live  on  the  animal  plane  cannot  discern 
this ;  and  they  chafe  and  fret,  grumble  and  groan, 
losing  sight  of  the  priceless  boon  with  which  they  are 
endowed.  And,  alas,  some  end  it  all  in  a  fit  of  impa¬ 
tience.  The  Christian  faith  is  flouted  by  some  on  the 
ground  that  it  glorifies  suffering.  But  they  fail  to  see 
that  the  consolatory  provisions  of  the  Word  of  God 
elevate  the  natural  capacity  for  suffering  into  the  realm 
of  exalted  character  and  glorious  destiny.  Suffer  we 
must.  Our  blessed  religion  comes  to  us  in  the  Person 
whom  we  adore  and  says  to  us,  “  I  will  sanctify  your 
suffering  for  your  highest  good.”  How  the  grosser 
elements  of  our  nature  pulverize  in  this  mortar  of 
experience !  How  beautiful  some  lives  become  as  they 


144  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


“pass  through  the  fire”!  We  learn  from  this  the 
value  of  our  mortal  flesh  for  the  raising  of  the  lower 
qualities  of  our  being  to  where  the  fullest  manifesta¬ 
tion  of  graciousness  becomes  possible.  And  in  turn, 
our  mental  attitudes,  our  spiritual  trust,  react  upon  the 
physical  frame,  infusing  into  the  very  tissues  of  the 
body  fresh  streams  of  life.  For  scientists  are  agreed 
that  the  mind  has  sovereignty  over  the  flesh.  The 
chemical  composition  of  the  blood  may  be  changed  by 
fright,  worry,  hatred  or  anger.  Indeed,  the  health- 
hues  of  the  blood  may  be  affected  by  our  moods.  That 
is  no  mere  vagary  which  has  moved  the  specialists  to 
detect  crime  by  the  heart  action,  the  respiration,  aye, 
by  the  very  perspiration  of  the  criminal.  Contrast- 
ively,  innocence  of  any  known  wrong,  reverent  faith, 
unselfish  devotion  may  affect  the  flesh  with  uplifting 
impulses,  evoking  vital  currents  of  energy,  unseating 
disease,  enthroning  health. 

Recent  experiments  have  resulted  in  the  conviction 
that  the  human  body  is  electrically  balanced ;  the  posi¬ 
tive  and  negative  poles  playing  upon  each  other  with 
reciprocal  action.  This  poise,  when  evenly  sustained, 
is  a  synonym  of  well-being.  The  excess  of  one  current 
or  the  other  spells  disorder.  And  as  in  the  electrical 
world  acids  and  alkalies  react  each  upon  the  other,  the 
electrical  quality  of  the  body  of  man  would  seem  to 
respond  to  a  like  process.  In  health,  the  juices  of  the 
mouth  at  the  time  of  mastication,  when  hunger  is  ex¬ 
perienced,  should  be  alkaline ;  the  secretions  of  the 
stomach  are  acid ;  the  bile  duct  yields  an  alkaline  solu¬ 
tion,  while  the  final  order  of  assimilation  should  be 
acid — according  to  Metchnikoff,  lactic  acid  the  better 
for  long  life  and  sustained  health. 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESH 


145 


This  electrical  idea  has  so  far  advanced  that  venture¬ 
some  scientists  are  coming  to  apprehend  the  day  when 
they  may  perfect  a  device  which  shall  qualify  the 
human  body  to  emit  rays  of  light  and  express  electrical 
energy.  We  may  not  be  surprised  on  hearing  that 
some  wizard  has  made  this  assumed  possibility  a 
demonstration.  And  when  it  is  done,  the  world  may 
be  willing  to  accept  the  true  hypothesis  of  the  origin 
of  man.  For  when  science  vindicates  the  evident  truth 
of  God,  men  will  believe,  because  they  have  seen.  But 
just  what  they  will  then  extol  is  already  resident  in 
the  Word  of  God.  And  to  that  study  we  may  now 
apply  ourselves. 

God  declared  (Gen.  1:26)  “  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image.”  In  this  statement  we  assume  that  the 
design  was  to  endow  the  first  man  with  a  mental  and 
moral  equipment  to  comprehend  in  some  measure  the 
character  of  the  Deity,  and  to  respond  to  the  appeal 
which  Deity  would  make  to  his  loyalty  and  affection. 
But  is  there  not  something  more? 

The  fall  of  man,  universally  conceded,  though  con- 
trastively  interpreted,  embraced,  in  the  Scriptural  nar¬ 
ration,  a  sense  of  shame,  which  had  not  previously 
existed.  To  the  call  of  God,  “  Where  art  thou?”  the 
man,  Adam,  with  terror  in  his  voice,  responded,  “  I  was 
afraid  and  hid  myself ;  for  I  was  naked.”  Certainly 
some  transformation  in  the  body  of  the  man  must  have 
occurred,  which  this  new  revealing  betrays.  What 
was  it? 

Returning  to  the  declaration  of  Gen.  1 : 26,  “  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,”  we  discern  a  possible  solu¬ 
tion  to  a  problem  which  all  men  must  have  considered 
with  earnest  desire  for  a  reasonable  solution.  Have 


146  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


we  not  all  wondered  why  it  is  that  man  is  the  only 
creature  who  has  to  find  a  covering  for  his  body  ?  The 
birds  have  their  plumage,  the  brutes  have  their  pelts. 
They  unconsciously  modify  their  covering  according 
to  the  changes  of  the  seasons ;  like  the  flowers,  “  toil 
not,  nor  spin  ”  for  clothing.  Why  must  this  be  the 
ever-present  burden  of  God’s  most  wonderful  crea¬ 
ture?  Look  at  us,  wearily  grinding  our  lives  away  to 
secure  habiliments.  Light  clothing  for  summer ;  heavy 
for  winter.  Beautiful  for  the  female ;  ordinary  for  the 
masculine.  But  clothes,  clothes,  clothes  is  the  cry  from 
the  year’s  beginning  to  its  end. 

“  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image.”  What  was  that 
image?  we  must  again  inquire.  We  have  often  asked 
it.  If  we  will  turn  to  Psalm  104:  2,  we  read  that  God 
clothes  Himself  with  light  as  with  a  garment.  Might 
He  not  have  done  that  with  the  first  man?  Stephen 
calls  God  the  “God  of  glory”  (Acts  7:2).  One 
Psalm  leads  a  step  farther,  “  Thou  madest  him  to  be 
a  little  lower  than  the  angels  (Heb.  Elohim)  ;  and  hast 
crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor’’  (Psa.  8:5).  If 
we  look  closely  at  this  passage,  we  shall  see  that  the 
writer  is  contrasting  the  present  man  with  the  man 
that  came  fresh  from  the  Creator’s  hand;  for  the 
previous  verse  makes  the  appeal,  “  What  is  man  that 
thou  art  mindful  of  him  and  the  son  of  man  that  thou 
visitest  him  ?  ”  Something  was  evidently  lost  which 
had  originally  been  possessed.  Suppose  we  make  a 
short  cut  to  the  core  of  the  question  and  allow  that  our 
postulate  is  correct,  what  do  we  find?  A  human  body 
qualified  with  a  glory  that  enveloped  it,  because  of  the 
inner  potency  with  which  it  was  endowed.  The  Scrip¬ 
tural  narrative  cites  that  they  (Adam  and  Eve)  were 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESH 


147 


naked  and  not  ashamed  (Gen.  2:25),  which  does  not 
contradict  our  contention.  They  were  devoid  of  ma¬ 
terial  clothing.  In  that  consisted  their  nakedness. 
They  were  not  ashamed  because  they  saw  no  naked¬ 
ness  for  the  sheen  of  light  which  enveloped  them  with 
the  grace  of  the  most  beautiful  garments.  And  we 
further  assume  that  this  potency,  indwelt  by  the  love 
and  vitality  of  God,  possessed  the  quality  of  protecting 
as  well  as  adorning  the  human  body.  Whether  in  the 
torrid  zone  or  in  the  icy  north,  whatever  the  weather, 
resistance  to  climate  would  ever  be  the  characteristic 
of  this  endowment. 

So  much  conceded,  if  you  please,  let  us  reverse  our 
method  and  look  at  the  other  end  of  the  glass.  The 
one  word  which  signalizes  the  Christian  faith  is  “  Re¬ 
demption.”  It  is  written  large  in  the  New  Testament; 
it  is  the  prevailing  trend  of  the  Old.  This  redemption, 
when  rightly  comprehended,  signifies  a  restoration,  by 
the  purchase  effected  through  the  Son  of  God,  of  the 
rights  of  man  which  had  been  sacrificed  in  the  begin¬ 
ning.  Only  those  who  utterly  fail  to  comprehend  the 
meaning  of  the  Word  of  God  will  stagger  at  this. 
When  we  come  to  analyze  the  full  fruition  of  redemp¬ 
tion,  we  find  man  ennobled  in  a  garment  of  glory.  It 
is  not  the  glory  that  comes  from  creation.  That  was 
lost.  It  is  the  effulgence  which  has  been  secured  by  the 
Redeemer.  Read  how  this  is  delineated  in  Daniel 
12:3,  “  They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness 
of  the  firmament ;  and  they  that  win  many  to  right¬ 
eousness,  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever.”  Our  Lord 
describes  the  day  when  “  the  righteous  shall  shine  forth 
as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father”  (Matt. 
13:43).  Regarding  the  work  of  redemption  by  the 


148  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Son  of  God,  the  Apostle  declares  (Col.  3:4),  “When 
Christ  our  life  shall  appear,  then  shall  we  also  appear 
with  him  in  glory.”  When  he  speaks  of  the  resurrec¬ 
tion,  he  avers,  concerning  the  body,  “  It  is  sown  in 
dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory”  (I  Cor.  15:43).  And 
he  climaxes  the  grandeur  in  two  passages,  namely 
Rom.  8:  19-23  and  Phil.  3:20,  21.  The  revelation  of 
the  Sons  of  God  in  Rom.  8:19  is  associated  with  the 
glory  of  the  18th  verse;  and  the  redemption  of  our 
body  (its  restoration)  is  that  for  which  we  wait.  The 
glory  of  our  Lord  is  to  be  ours  (He  promised  that  in 
John  17:22)  when  we  shall  be  transfigured  in  bodies 
like  unto  the  body  of  His  glory.  And  St.  John  con¬ 
firms  that  postulate  by  his  own  testimony,  “  When  we 
shall  see  him,  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see 
him  as  he  is  ”  (I  John  3:3).  St.  Peter  encourages  the 
saints  to  steadfastness  by  his  exhortation  in  I  Peter 
1:7,  “  That  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much  more 
precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  might  be  found 
unto  praise  and  honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of 
Jesus  Christ.”  He  also  enjoins  firmness  in  suffering 
that  “  when  his  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad 
also  with  exceeding  joy.”  The  gladness  implies  a  par¬ 
ticipation  in  that  glory  which  shall  be  characteristic  of 
Himself.  As  the  second  man  (I  Cor.  15:47),  the 
Lord  from  heaven,  He  is  the  One  of  whom  the  first 
man,  Adam,  was  the  figure  (Rom.  5:14).  A  figure, 
we  understand,  conveys  likeness  in  form  and  quality. 
Is  there  any  reason  why  the  Son  of  God,  whose  glory 
was  witnessed  by  the  three  chosen  disciples  (Matt. 
17:  1-5),  may  not  have  been  the  portraiture  in  bodily 
essence  of  the  first  man?  Why  should  not  the  glory 
of  the  second  man  be  the  assurance  that  the  first  man 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESH 


149 


was  equally  endowed?  If  redemption  was  a  bringing 
back  of  an  order  that  had  been  disrupted,  may  not  a 
part  of  that  disruption  have  been  the  loss  of  the  glory 
which  had  been  primarily  conferred? 

“The  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye”  (Matt.  6:22). 
Our  Lord  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  flesh  has  this 
remnant  of  a  former  glory.  Do  we  not  comprehend 
the  inner  being  through  the  light  of  the  countenance 
of  which  the  eye  is  the  lustrous  center?  The  eye  can 
penetrate  the  recesses  of  the  very  soul ;  it  can  illumine, 
inspire,  encourage,  condemn.  By  only  a  look,  we  may 
confer  pleasure  or  inflict  pain.  What  is  there  in  this, 
but  a  latent  power,  remaining  over  from  the  ruin  of 
the  former  estate,  when  from  the  eyes  there  may  have 
radiated  shafts  of  light?  Our  glorified  Lord  is  de¬ 
scribed  by  the  Apostle  (Rev.  1:14)  as  having  eyes 
like  a  flame  of  fire.  The  figure  here  is  of  that  keenness 
of  penetration  which  leaves  nothing  unseen  by  Him 
(Heb.  4:  12,  13).  But  is  not  this  a  presaging  of  the 
restoration  (Acts  3:19-21,  R.  V.),  when  from  the 
very  countenances  of  the  saints  a  relative  measure  of 
glory  shall  be  their  equipment  in  Him? 

There  is  an  appealing  truth  regarding  this  phase  of 
the  question  in  the  statement  of  the  Apostle  (II  Cor. 
3:  18),  “We  all  with  unveiled  countenance,  beholding 
as  in  a  glass  (mirror)  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  trans¬ 
formed  into  the  same  image  (His  glory)  from  glory 
to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Lord,  the  Spirit.”  This  ac¬ 
cords  with  our  Lord’s  words,  “  Blessed  are  the  eyes 
which  see”  (Matt.  13:14-17).  But  seeing  is  not  for 
discerning  alone ;  but  for  expressing  what  has  been 
absorbed.  Therefore,  we  are  called  light  in  the  Lord 
(Eph.  5:8)  because  we  have  received  light  and  dis- 


150  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


pense  light.  Our  fellowship  with  Him  is  in  light 
(I  John  1:7),  from  whose  presence  we  go  forth  to 
give  light.  So  as  He  is  the  Light  of  the  world  (John 
1:4,  5,  9;  8:12)  we  are  too  (Matt.  5:14-16).  It 
would  seem  as  though  there  is  a  mystery  in  these  and 
kindred  passages,  which  is  yet  to  be  fathomed  by  the 
children  of  God.  Not  only  spiritual  light,  intellectual 
light,  after  the  spiritual  is  illumined,  but  a  light  that  is 
related  to  our  physical  being. 

Health  always  insures  brightness  of  countenance, 
clearness  of  eye.  Disease,  on  the  contrary,  brings  dull¬ 
ness  of  visage,  gloom  of  face.  What  if,  all  things  said, 
our  physical  redemption,  even  now  is  to  come  in  the 
infusion  of  light,  which  is  always  the  synonym  of 
health,  by  which  the  very  tissues  of  the  flesh  shall  be 
invigorated?  We  put  our  sick  in  the  sun.  We  are 
learning  that  special  rays  of  light  affect  ailments. 
What  if  this  all  be  the  reflection,  by  the  decision  of 
man,  of  the  order  which  God  first  established?  Only, 
we  apply  the  light  externally.  God’s  method  is  to 
impart  light  from  within. 

Would  it  not  be  a  glorious  revelation  to  us,  if  we 
should  be  certified  that  the  qualification  with  which  we 
are  endowed,  according  to  the  above  texts  and  their 
companions,  has  a  really  vital  residence  in  our  mortal 
flesh?  What  if  when  angels  and  demons  look  upon 
the  children  of  God  they  discern  a  glory  which  we  can¬ 
not  behold,  because  of  our  earth-plane  limitations? 
How  it  would  inspire  us  to  seek  fuller  illumination, 
that  we  might  the  more  glorify  Him,  and  gladden  the 
holy  ones  who  minister  to  us  as  sent  from  Him  (Heb. 
1:14).  This  was  true  of  our  Lord  Himself.  The 
transfiguration  was  not  an  investiture  of  glory,  but  a 


OUR  MORTAL  FLESH 


151 


bursting  through  the  interstices  of  the  flesh  of  the 
sup'ernal  light,  which  dwelt  perpetually  in  that  body, 
of  which  body  unbelieving  men  could  say,  “  There  is 
no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him”  (Isa.  53:2). 
His  flesh  was  a  veil  (Heb.  10:20).  Just  as  in  the 
Tabernacle  of  old,  the  shekinah  dwelt  beneath  curtains 
which  obscured  it  and  a  veil  hung  to  hide  it  from  the 
eyes  of  men,  so  we  read,  “  The  Word  was  made  flesh 
and  tabernacled  among  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the 
glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of 
grace  and  truth  ”  (John  1 :  14). 

If  the  postulate  which  is  before  us  is  entitled  to  any 
degree  of  prayerful  thought,  we  arrive  at  the  conclud¬ 
ing  truth,  which  the  suggestions  bear.  Remedies  for 
disease,  like  the  applied  sunlight,  are  external.  God’s 
method  must  be  to  bring  life  to  the  body  by  the  in¬ 
ternal  quickening.  Could  we  treasure  the  truth  of  our 
Adamic  origin,  fresh  from  the  hand  of  God,  realize 
that  our  first  parent  forfeited  what  had  been  his 
glorious  endowment,  and  left  us  to  a  like  fate;  and 
then  could  we  rise  to  the  greatness  of  “  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,”  we  should  prize  with  unspeak¬ 
able  joy  our  present  inheritance.  We  should  cease  try¬ 
ing  to  get  well  by  such  devices  as  are  at  hand,  and  put 
ourselves  into  the  current  of  His  potency,  for  the  im- 
partation  of  life — life  that  can  expel  disease  and  in¬ 
vigorate  with  ecstacy  every  tissue,  cell  and  organ. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

OUR  BLOOD-BROTHER. 

The  challenge  of  Jesus  to  His  inquisitors  (Matt. 
22:42)  has  become  accentuated  in  the  present  day. 
Around  the  personality  of  our  Lord  the  agitated 
waters  of  controversy  are  surging.  What  men  think 
of  Christ  is  after  all  the  test  of  destiny. 

To  avoid  the  issue,  there  has  arisen  a  subtle  philoso¬ 
phy,  as  we  are  painfully  coming  to  realize,  that  we  are 
not  required  to  settle  the  question  of  His  personality  ; 
since  the  principles  He  taught  have  become  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  the  human  race.  It  should  not  necessarily  con¬ 
cern  us  who  gave  us  those  principles ;  we  have  them ; 
they  are  operative  and  dynamic.  To  make  them  the 
standard  of  truth,  the  criterion  of  conduct  is  sufficient. 
We  may  allow  that  in  any  avenues  of  utility,  we  may 
adopt  the  devices  of  inventive  men  and  demand  no 
knowledge  of  themselves.  To  be  sure,  we  do  hold  a 
spirit  of  gratitude  toward  Marconi  when  some  one 
dear  to  us  has  been  saved  from  a  watery  grave  by  the 
means  of  “  the  wireless  ”  which  he  perfected.  Yet, 
the  days  will  come  when  his  name  will  be  lost  to  hu¬ 
manity.  It  will  be  enough  that  his  work  has  stood 
the  test. 

But  we  cannot  apply  that  rule  to  Christianity.  If  all 
there  is  of  it  resides  in  the  ethics  which  Jesus  taught, 
the  entire  Christian  faith  is  doomed  to  collapse.  And 
some  are  audacious  enough  to  declare  that  it  deserves 
to  fall  into  ruin,  since  it  has  been  founded  upon  a 

152 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


153 


false  conception  of  both  Jesus  and  His  doctrines.  We 
may  not  blind  our  eyes  to  this  impending  peril.  On  all 
hands,  the  teachings  of  Jesus  relating  to  right  living, 
the  emulation  of  the  recorded  life  of  Jesus,  the  gratu¬ 
itous  compliment  which  accords  Him  a  place  among 
the  great  men  of  the  religious  world,  make  the  basis  of 
much  of  modern  Christian  belief.  To  leave  Him  in  the 
“  grave  on  which  with  shining  eyes,  the  Syrian  stars 
look  down  ”  is  really  the  attitude  of  many,  who  are  of 
Edwin  Arnold’s  mind. 

Let  us  be  certified  that  not  only  was  Christianity 
founded  upon  the  person  of  our  Lord ;  but  all  through 
the  ages  have  the  saints  of  God  gloried  in  a  passion  for 
the  Person.  Among  all  the  great  teachers  of  religious 
thought  there  has  never  been  a  like  portraiture  of  de¬ 
votion.  Revered  and  treasured  in  memory  they  may 
be ;  but  no  one  but  a  living  Christian  has  the  incentive 
to  exclaim,  “  Christ  liveth  in  me.”  Would  we  have  the 
legacy  of  truth  embodied  in  the  New  Testament,  if  the 
writers  and  witnesses  of  that  truth  had  not  been  pos¬ 
sessed  with  an  undying  devotion  to  the  Person?  Ver¬ 
ily,  had  the  ideal  now  looming  up  been  that  of  the 
Apostolic  age,  there  would  not  have  been  any  New 
Testament.  It  was  this  consuming  love  for  Him  that 
moved  St.  Paul  to  exultingly  cry  “  For  me  to  live  is 
Christ”  (Phil.  1:21).  Note  the  appeal  of  St.  Peter, 
“  Whom  having  not  seen  ye  love ;  in  whom  though 
seeing  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  un¬ 
speakable  and  full  of  glory”  (I  Peter  1:8);  and 
again,  “  Unto  you  which  believe,  he  is  the  precious¬ 
ness  ”  (I  Peter  2:7).  And  we  may  discern  that  the 
ground  of  this  devotion  lay  in  the  remarkable  conver¬ 
sion  each  had  experienced,  through  the  working  of  the 


154  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Spirit  of  God  in  their  hearts.  The  persecuting  Phari¬ 
see  at  the  gate  of  Damascus  was  halted  by  the  demand, 
“  Why  persecutest  thou  me?  ”  (Acts  9:5).  The  bluff 
Peter,  who  had  denied  his  Lord  three  times,  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  reverse  his  attitude  by  the  searching  appeal 
three  times  uttered,  “Simon,  lovest  thou  ME?”  (John 
21:15-17). 

In  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire,  when  “  this 
pestiferous  sect  of  the  Nazarenes  ”  was  diligently  per¬ 
secuted,  yet  ever  rising  out  of  the  ashes  of  its  burn¬ 
ings,  it  grew  in  proportion  to  its  decimations ;  because 
the  believers  saw  and  cherished  a  Saviour  in  the  heav- 
enlies,  whom  they  acknowledged  as  Lord.  And  all 
Christian  literature  tingles  with  the  jubilant  thrill  of 
spiritual  attachment  to  the  person  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 
If,  in  this  late  day,  Christianity  is  decreed  to  be  but  an 
ethical  system,  then  all  the  streams  of  Christian 
thought  must  dry  up,  all  the  aspirations  of  Christian 
hope  be  extinguished.  But,  if  there  is  a  mystic  rela¬ 
tion  between  every  living  soul  and  the  Son  of  God,  the 
question  of  the  day  glows  with  an  unquenchable  gleam. 
Surely,  there  is  need,  great  need  that  we  get  God’s 
perspective  and  receive  God’s  own  gift  of  love  for 
“  the  Only  Begotten  Son  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth  ”  (John  1 :  14). 

It  is  the  loss  of  this  perspective  and  gift  which  is 
the  stumbling-block  of  the  latter-day  Jew  to  whom 
modern  Christianity  is  becoming  more  and  more  con¬ 
ciliatory.  He  is  now,  contrary  to  his  mind  in  the  past, 
willing  to  concede  that  Jesus  was  the  greatest  prophet 
of  the  Jewish  race;  but  he  too  will  accept  the  one  office 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  which  was  fulfilled  in  His  earthly 
life  and  ministry,  for  to  him  too  the  ethical  Jesus,  the 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


155 


admirable  Man  of  Galilee  is  the  pattern  for  all  men. 
But  the  Jew  of  today,  Christian  Unitarian  in  essence, 
parts  with  Jesus  at  the  Cross,  and  loses  the  spiritual 
birthright  secured  him  by  his  and  our  Blood-Brother. 

A  certain  college  professor,  voicing  what  we  may 
believe  is  the  almost  universal  opinion  of  the  men  of 
his  class,  declares :  “  The  infallibility  of  the  Bible ;  the 
pre-existent  deity  of  Christ ;  His  virgin  birth ;  His  sub¬ 
stitutionary  atonement ;  His  bodily  resurrection ;  His 
intercessory  work  and  His  personal  return  to  the  earth 
are  ingenious  and  interesting  doctrines ;  but  to  require 
belief  in  them  now  is  like  requiring  one  to  share  in  the 
Salem  witchcraft  delusion  in  order  to  be  a  good 
American.  As  time  goes  on,  it  will  be  increasingly 
difficult  to  find  men,  either  to  preach  them  or  to  listen 
to  them.”  This  is  quite  in  accord  with  the  statement 
of  the  editor  of  the  Independent,  a  once  orthodox 
Christian  magazine,  who  writes,  “  There  is  actually  a 
generation  growing  up  who  never  heard  the  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  sacrificial  death  of  Christ.  Young  people 
in  the  churches  would  actually  be  shocked  at  the  sug¬ 
gestion  that  Jesus  died  that  they  might  not  die.”  The 
college  professor  concludes :  “  The  task  of  the  new  day 
will  be  to  present  an  interpretation  of  Christianity, 
which  will  bring  into  harmony  the  simple  ideals  of 
Jesus  with  the  findings  of  modern  knowledge.” 

Connected  with  this  sphere  of  thought  is  the  gradual 
growth  of  Mohammedanism.  Only  those  who  are 
keenly  alert  to  the  flickerings  of  this  new  torch  are 
capable  of  estimating  the  danger  to  which  Christianity, 
as  always  expounded  by  the  historic  Church,  is  slowly 
being  exposed.  English  university  graduates  are  lean¬ 
ing  towards  this  ethical  system.  The  Islamic  Review, 


156  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


a  product  of  the  printer’s  art  worthy  of  commendation, 
is  advancing  the  teaching  that  since  the  universities 
have  discarded  the  primal  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
faith,  and  the  clergy  become  either  deniers  of  them 
or  are  supinely  silent  regarding  them,  the  auspicious 
hour  has  come  for  Mohammedan  evangelism.  Most 
shrewdly  do  the  editor  and  writers  of  this  magazine 
weave  the  ethical  teachings  of  our  Lord  into  the  Mo¬ 
hammedan  fabric,  convincing  to  the  evident  satisfac¬ 
tion  of  the  erstwhile  believers  in  Christianity,  that  our 
Lord  was  all  that  Mohammed  pronounced  Him,  and 
nothing  more.  So,  at  the  shrine  of  the  prophet,  intel¬ 
lectual  and  cultured  English  men  and  women  are  bow¬ 
ing  with  a  reverent  resignation  of  those  ideals  which 
they  imbibed  in  their  mother’s  milk  and  professed  at 
the  Holy  Table  of  the  Lord.  We  have  thought  of  this 
religion  as  capable  of  existing  only  in  the  land  of  its 
birth  and  related  countries.  It  has  never  been  consid¬ 
ered  an  occidental  system.  But  decaying  Christianity 
(as  we  may  term  it)  affords  this  cultus  a  new  inspira¬ 
tion.  With  the  return  of  the  Turk  to  the  prestige  and  ' 
power  of  pre-crusade  days,  we  may  opine  that  the 
cloud  now  as  small  as  a  man’s  hand  can  become  the 
generator  of  a  wild  disorder  in  the  history  of  modern 
Christianity. 

Then,  there  is  another  and  equally  baffling  interpre¬ 
tation  of  Him  which  swings  the  pendulum  in  the  re¬ 
verse  direction.  It  is  that  the  Christ-Principle  which 
Jesus  declared  and  which  dwelt  in  Him  in  full  meas¬ 
ure,  is  the  property  of  all  men  to  be  expressed  in  them 
as  Christ’s  in  relative  degree ;  that  His  mission  was  to 
show  the  way  to  God  and  to  leave  in  the  world  a  spirit 
of  illumination  and  energizing  which  should  reproduce 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


157 


His  works.  While  this  ideal  utilizes  only  what  of  His 
teachings  which  would  suit  its  predilections,  it  also 
separates  from  Him  at  the  Cross,  though  in  some 
schools  the  nomenclature  of  the  Christian  faith  regard¬ 
ing  the  crucifixion  and  resurrection  is  skilfully  em¬ 
ployed.  This  system  of  thought  would  give  to  all  the 
ancient  religions  the  Christ  vision  and  dynamics,  under 
names  suited  to  the  lands  and  people  where  they  arose, 
and  influenced  souls;  and  it  would  insure  through  the 
Christ  which  Jesus  bore  in  His  body,  by  whatever 
name  it  might  be  designated,  the  cementing  of  the 
entire  religious  world  into  one  comprehensive  system; 
a  universal  brotherhood. 

And  so,  between  the  purely  ethical  presentation  of 
Christianity  and  the  profoundly  mystical  cults  which 
bear  the  ear-marks  of  Buddhism  and  allied  thought, 
wherein  healing  is  the  essential  quest,  we  are  chal¬ 
lenged  to  find  the  rationale  of  the  truly  Christian  faith 
and  fearlessly  declare  it.  In  no  sphere  of  dogmatism 
are  the  perplexing  features  of  the  religious  world- 
thought  so  entangling  as  in  this.  For  through  healing 
of  the  body,  devotion  to  error  (as  we  are  compelled  to 
regard  it)  is  easily  secured. 

That  we  may  get  at  the  core  of  the  question,  I  beg 
to  present  a  brief  study  of  the  Blood-Brother  relation¬ 
ship  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  the  entire  human  race. 
And  this  is  to  emphasize  that  which  He  constantly 
affirmed  and  which  was  by  His  disciples  after  Him 
dogmatically  asserted — that  only  as  the  Redeemer 
through  blood  could  He  stand  as  worthy  of  acceptance. 

In  entering  this  study  there  is  of  necessity  the  need 
that  an  at  least  fragmentary  reference  to  the  problem 
of  blood  in  the  Word  of  God  should  be  made.  This 


158  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


fundamental  requirement  of  the  Old  Testament,  not 
less  so  in  the  New,  no  doubt  begins  with  the  trans¬ 
action  by  which  the  shame-suffused  bodies  of  our  first 
parents  were  clad  by  God  Himself.  They  had  tried  to 
hide  their  nakedness  by  human  means.  Now  He  will 
do  it  by  His.  Despite  the  protests  of  the  scholars,  I  do 
reverently  believe  that  this  interpretation  of  the  inci¬ 
dent  will  be  justified  in  the  last  analysis.  Ere  God 
could  clothe  them,  His  erring  children,  He  must  take 
a  life  which  is  innocent  of  their  sin.  But  in  that  life, 
God  Himself  is  involved.  As  He  Himself  is  the 
source  of  that  life,  so  in  its  surrender  in  their  behalf, 
He  offers  Himself.  Thus,  the  coats  of  skins  (Gen. 
3:21)  betoken  that  long  and  profoundly  mystical 
process  by  which  men  could  approach  God  for  the 
propitiation  for  sins.  That  redemptive  life  might  be 
assured  the  people  of  His  covenant,  every  time  a  sacri¬ 
fice  was  offered,  though  the  offerer  was  to  provide  the 
sacrifice  in  a  temporal  sense,  it  was  God  who  provided 
the  life  that  should  be  laid  down.  The  life  of  the 
creature  was  His  own  creating ;  the  blood  that  was  shed 
was  God’s  own  property.  For  blood  and  life  are  be¬ 
yond  the  laboratories  of  man.  With  this  thought  in 
mind,  we  are  able  to  more  clearly  comprehend  the  sin 
of  Cain.  He  repudiated  the  principle  we  have  dis¬ 
cerned.  Hence,  his  offering,  though  much  more  at¬ 
tractive  than  Abel’s,  could  not  be  accepted.  Then,  to 
further  accentuate  his  alienation  from  the  divine 
method,  he  took  a  life  which  was  precious  to  God,  that 
of  his  own  brother,  and  thus  robbed  God  of  that  which 
was  supremely  His.  We  may  opine  that  the  failure  to 
stand  with  Abel  in  simple  obedience,  the  desire  to 
depart  from  “  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


159 


saints,”  may  be  the  very  “  going  in  the  way  of 
Cain  ”  which  is  predicted  of  the  latter-time  teachers 
(Jude  3 :  11). 

As  illustrative  of  the  principle,  we  note  that  God 
made  a  blood-covenant  with  Abraham  in  Genesis 
15:9,  10.  The  words,  “Take  me”  literally  mean, 
“  Take  for  me,  as  my  substitute,  the  heifer,  the  she- 
goat,  the  ram,  the  turtle-dove  and  the  young  pigeon.” 
It  was  His  own  life  (as  we  have  remarked  above) 
that  was  outpoured  in  the  death  of  these  selected  sacri¬ 
fices.  And  thus  throughout  the  entire  Old  Testament 
covenant  period  there  resided  the  standard  of  the 
divine  choice  of  that  which  should  be  offered  as  well 
that  the  life  of  Deity  was  involved  in  every  offering. 
The  preparation  for  the  coming  of  God’s  chosen 
Blood-Brother  for  a  lost  world  was  thereby  effected. 

As  emphatic  of  this  trend  of  education  through 
centuries  of  direction  and  discipline,  we  note  the  sig¬ 
nificant  and  insistent  attitude  of  our  Lord  towards 
sin  and  sinners.  But  we  cannot  get  the  divine  per¬ 
spective  until  there  is  a  recognition  of  His  own  sinless¬ 
ness.  We  recall  that  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  in  paraphrasing  the  dedication  of  our  Lord 
to  His  Father’s  will  (Psa.  40:6-8)  states,  “Sacrifice 
and  offering  thou  wouldst  not;  but  a  body  hast  thou 
prepared  me”  (Heb.  10:  5).  The  very  singularity  of 
this  statement  is  a  challenge  to  our  faith  in  its  in¬ 
spired  origin.  This  body,  precisely  like  our  own  in 
form  (Phil.  2:7;  Heb.  2: 17;  4:  15)  is  also  in  essence 
like  that  of  the  first  man,  whom  St.  Paul  designates 
as  the  figure  of  Him  that  was  to  come  (Rom.  5:  14). 
There  were  two  things  about  the  first  man  which  are 


160  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


identical  with  the  second  Man,  the  Lord  from  heaven. 
First  that  there  was  no  sin  in  the  body  of  the  first 
man,  when  he  came  from  the  hand  of  God ;  second, 
that  his  body  would  never  have  come  under  the  power 
of  death  if  he  had  not  sinned.  We  may  thus  define  the 
body  of  our  Lord  as  being  sinless ;  and  that  He  could 
not  have  died  by  natural  processes,  for  that  death  is 
clearly  set  forth  as  the  consequence  of  sin.  This  has  a 
bearing  upon  the  fact  that  a  violent  death  only  could 
deprive  that  body,  made  for  Him,  of  its  vital  forces. 

As  He  stood  amongst  men,  we  well  recall  how  He 
could  challenge  them  to  convict  Him  of  sin  (John 
8 : 46) .  The  Father  could  never  have  uttered  the 
memorable  words,  “  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased”  (Matt.  3:17;  17:5)  were  there 
any  sin  in  Him,  for  God  cannot  look  upon  sin  (Hab. 
1 :  13).  Note  that  when  at  the  last  He  became  sin  for 
us,  the  face  of  the  Father  was  hidden  from  Him, 
and  evoked  from  His  dying  lips  the  heart-rending  cry, 
“My  God,  my  God,  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?” 
This  sinlessness  is  further  exemplified  by  His  being 
called  the  Lamb  of  God  (John  1:29);  by  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  demons,  “  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
Holy  One  of  God  ”  (Mark  1:24;  Luke  4:34;  8 :  28)  ; 
by  the  inspired  confession  of  Simon  Peter,  “  Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God”  (Matt.  16:  16, 
17)  ;  by  the  unction  which  led  St.  John  to  write  his 
gospel  (John  20:31)  ;  by  the  message  of  the  newly- 
converted  Saul  of  Tarsus  (Acts  9:20)  ;  by  the  glow¬ 
ing  witness  of  the  Christian  Church  of  the  apostolic 
age,  “Thy  holy  Child  Jesus”  (Acts  3:14;  4:27); 
“  Who  knew  no  sin  ”  (II  Cor.  5:21);  “  Who  did  no 
sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth”  (I  Peter 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


161 


2:  22)  ;  “  Holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sin¬ 
ners  ”  (Heb,  7:26)  ;  “Without  spot”  (Heb.  9:  14). 

Dwelling  in  this  body  which  was  prepared  for  Him, 
He  made  the  matter  of  sin  and  sinners  His  life’s  pur¬ 
pose.  He  ate  with  publicans  and  sinners  that  He 
might  draw  them  to  God ;  He  insisted  that  His  mission 
was  to  solve  the  problem  of  sin  by  giving  Himself  a 
ransom  for  the  lost,  who  were  captive  to  the  powers  of 
darkness.  See  Matt.  20:28;  Luke  15:1;  John  3:16, 
17;  10:  17,  18;  8:  36;  Acts  20 :  28 ;  Rom.  5  :  7,  8 ;  I  Cor. 
15:3;  Gal.  2:20;  Eph.  1:7;  Phil.  2:5-11;  Col.  1:20; 
I  Tim.  1:15;  Heb.  9:26;  I  Peter  1:19,  20;  I  John 
1:7;  Rev.  1:5;  5:9,  10. 

We  are  aware  that  He  bears  in  the  New  Testament 
three  separate  titles  which  signify  to  us  three  dis¬ 
tinctive  features  of  Plis  work.  To  those  who,  like 
Simon  Peter,  receive  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  esteem  Him  as  the  Son  of  God,  there  is  a  special 
privilege,  for  they  constitute  the  company  of  believers 
who  are  embraced  in  the  Church,  for  which  He  gave 
Himself  (Eph.  5:25).  They  who  in  simple  faith,  lay¬ 
ing  aside  all  philosophies  and  subtleties  of  the  intellect 
will  seek  God  according  to  His  own  words,  “No  man 
knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father  ”  (Matt.  11 :27),  will 
be  spiritually  enlightened  and  know  Him  as  the  Father 
knows  Him.  When  they  get  their  vision,  they  too  will 
call  Him  the  Son  of  God. 

To  His  own  race,  marvelously  preserved  in  spite  of 
all  that  the  Gentiles  have  done  to  erase  it  from  the 
face  of  the  earth,  He  will  be  the  Son  of  David,  when 
the  veil  now  over  the  eyes  of  the  ancient  people  shall 
have  been  removed.  See  Rom.  11:15;  II  Cor.  3:  14- 
16 ;  Zech.  12 :  10 ;  Isa.  25 :  8,  9. 


162  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


But  our  study  of  Him  in  this  chapter  has  to  do  spe¬ 
cifically  with  His  own  designation  of  Himself.  “  The 
Son  of  Man.”  Have  we  ever  wondered  why  He  so 
often  thus  called  Himself?  There  is  but  one  answer. 
And  that  is  that  He  came  into  this  world  to  assert  His 
sovereignty  over  all  flesh.  In  this  arrogant  assumption 
He  becomes  the  marvel  of  history.  He  was  the 
product  of  a  despised  race,  living  in  an  age  when  that 
race  was  unmercifully  ground  under  the  iron  heel  of 
imperial  Rome.  Realizing  that  the  atmosphere  He 
breathed  was  hostile  to  any  such  pretension,  He  con¬ 
stantly  asserted  that  He  is  the  Son  of  Man.  And  in 
this  we  perceive  that  He  would  thus  unite  Himself  to 
the  entire  race.  There  could  be  no  ground  for  the 
amazing  statements  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  if  this  had  not  been  revealed  to  them.  For  to 
utter  them  was  to  imperil  the  new  faith  and  them¬ 
selves.  But  they  could  not  do  other.  Hear  St.  John 
in  the  prologue  of  his  gospel,  “  All  things  were  made 
through  him;  he  is  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man 
that  cometh  into  the  world.”  Regard  the  superlative 
ascription  of  St.  Paul,  “  By  him  were  all  things 
created.”  Bow  reverently  before  the  wonderful  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
“  The  brightness  of  God’s  glory,  the  express  image  of 
his  person,  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power;  by  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds.”  See  John 
1:1-10;  Col.  1:15-18;  I  Cor.  8:6;  Heb.  1:1-3. 

As  the  Son  of  Man  He  could  declare  Himself  to  be 
“The  Light  of  the  World”  (John  8:  12).  All  souls 
are  indissolubly  joined  to  Him  for  destiny.  This,  I 
believe,  is  the  contention  of  St.  Paul  in  the  familiar 
statement,  “  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


163 


shall  all  be  made  alive  ”  (I  Cor.  15:22),  which  accords 
with  our  Lord’s  own  claim,  “  All  that  are  in  their 
graves  shall  hear  his  voice  and  come  forth ;  they  that 
have  done  good  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  they 
that  have  done  evil  unto  the  resurrection  of  judgment  ” 
(John  5:28,  29).  We  behold,  then,  the  Logos,  God’s 
thought  of  love  for  every  creature,  translating  the  af¬ 
fection  and  power  of  God,  His  Father  and  theirs,  to  all 
who  will  receive  Him ;  becoming  the  Son  of  man  for 
condemnation  as  well,  to  those  who  refuse  His  meri¬ 
torious  work  of  redemption  in  their  behalf.  For  He  is 
a  propitiation,  not  for  our  sins  alone,  but  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world  (I  John  2:2). 

This  much  stated,  I  trust  we  are  in  a  mood  to 
analyze  the  Blood-Covenant  as  understood  in  His  day. 
The  very  absence  of  any  explication  of  it  may,  I  am 
persuaded,  be  taken  as  an  evidence  of  its  so  well  under¬ 
stood  existence,  that  such  unfolding  of  its  meaning 
would  not  be  essential.  We  recall  one  instance  in 
which  the  blood-covenant  oath  was  repeated  by  a 
woman.  It  was  when  Ruth  pledged  herself  to  Naomi, 
“  Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee  or  to  return  from  fol¬ 
lowing  after  thee ;  where  thou  goest,  I  will  go ;  where 
thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge ;  thy  people  shall  be  my 
people  and  thy  God  my  God ;  where  thou  diest  will  I 
die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried;  the  Lord  do  so  to  me 
and  more  also,  if  aught  but  death  part  thee  and  me  ” 
(Ruth  1:16,  17).  The  particular  features  of  this 
dedication  command  attention.  Ruth  was  surrender¬ 
ing  home  ties ;  abandoning  her  native  land ;  renouncing 
her  own  people;  denying  her  Moabitish  god.  We  ob¬ 
serve  that  when  she  consecrates  herself  to  Naomi’s 


164  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

God,  she  employs  the  word  Jehovah,  which  signifies  the 
covenant-God. 

Now,  if  we  may  transport  ourselves  to  an  African 
village,  we  shall  witness  in  the  present  day  a  ceremony 
in  which  the  very  words  of  Ruth  will  in  essence  be 
uttered.  As  we  approach  the  community  we  find  the 
houses  empty.  The  lanes  and  alleys  are  deserted. 
Piercing  farther  into  the  center  of  the  kraal,  we  find 
the  entire  company  of  inhabitants.  The  ceremony  of 
the  blood-covenant  is  about  to  be  taken;  and  it  is  im¬ 
portant  that  all  who  can  shall  be  witnesses  of  it.  The 
tall,  grey-bearded  priest  of  the  tribe  stands  in  the 
midst  of  the  crowd.  Before  him  are  two  stalwart 
young  fellows  who  are  to  take  the  blood-brother  oath, 
the  most  solemn  and  binding  obligation  known.  Ad¬ 
dressing  the  first  in  tones  of  deep  reverence,  he  asks, 
“  Koblo,  wilt  thou  have  this  man,  Saba,  for  thy  blood- 
brother  ?  Wilt  thou  abide  by  him  in  all  conditions  and 
circumstances  of  life?  Where  he  may  be  wilt  thou  be 
found?  Wilt  thou  make  his  friends  thy  friends,  his 
foes  thy  foes?  Wilt  thou  die  for  him  if  needs  be? 
Shall  he  be  to  thee  as  very  life  itself  ?  ”  When  the 
affirmative  response  has  been  made  by  each  to  the 
other,  the  priest  with  his  lancet  cuts  a  gash  in  the  arm 
of  the  first,  the  blood  dripping  into  a  cup  from  which 
the  second  drinks ;  the  latter  having  the  same  opera¬ 
tion,  the  former  drinking  his  blood.  Else,  the  hands 
are  clasped  and  a  vein  severed,  the  blood  mingling  and 
falling  to  the  ground.  They  are  by  this  ceremony  made 
blood-brothers.  The  indissoluble  bond  expressed  by 
Ruth  is  thus  consummated  between  two  men.  Our 
saying,  “  Blood  is  thicker  than  water  ”  has  no  real 
significance ;  but  the  Arabs  declare  that  blood  is  thicker 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


165 


than  milk ;  which  is  to  signify  that  a  blood-brother  is 
closer  than  one  who  has  been  nursed  at  the  same 
breast. 

Henry  M.  Stanley  relates  that  he  took  the  blood- 
covenant  with  over  fifty  tribes  and  never  was  it  vio¬ 
lated.  Dr.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  in  his  exhaustive 
study  of  the  Blood-Covenant  *  in  a  volume  of  that 
title,  relates  that  on  one  occasion  (page  28)  trouble 
arising  between  Stanley  and  a  chief,  the  former  sug¬ 
gested  that  it  would  be  better  to  cancel  their  blood- 
brother  relationship.  “  No,  no,  no,’’  cried  the  chief 
anxiously,  “  our  brotherhood  cannot  be  broken ;  our 
blood  is  now  one.” 

I  am  aware  that  we  are  wont  to  trace  the  hand¬ 
shake  to  the  age  of  knighthood ;  but  I  am  persuaded 
that  it  really  originated  with  the  Blood-covenant.  We 
will  recall  that  Jehu  bade  Jehonadab  to  give  him  his 
hand  as  the  proof  that  his  heart  was  right  with  him 
(II  Kings  10:  15)  ;  Pharaoh  is  described  as  breaking 
his  covenant  to  which  he  had  given  his  hand  (Ezek. 
17:18);  James  and  Peter  and  John  gave  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  to  Paul  and  Barnabas  (Gal.  2:9). 

The  first  principle  in  interpreting  the  blood-covenant 
relation  of  our  Lord  to  the  human  race,  lies  in  the  fact 
that  He  came  into  this  world  as  a  visitor  from  another; 
which  made  the  blood-covenant  the  more  comprehen¬ 
sive  to  those  who  were  familiar  with  its  sacred  associ¬ 
ations  and  obligations.  We  all  may  say  “  I  was  born,” 
but  He  is  able  to  declare,  “  I  came.”  See  Matt.  20 :  28 ; 
Luke  19:  10;  John  3:13;  6:38;  8:23;  10:  10,  26-28; 


*  The  Sunday  School  Times  Pub.  Co.,  Phila.,  Penna. 


166  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


13:3;  15:24;  16:  5,  6,  28;  17:4,  5,  8,  11,  13,  18.  If 
we  lose  this  postulate,  our  thought  of  Him  becomes 
misty ;  if  we  hold  to  it,  faith  rises  to  sublime  heights 
of  aspiration. 

In  His  incarnation,  therefore,  the  supernatural  is 
pre-requisite.  Those  who  lived  closest  to  Him  and  to 
the  days  of  His  earth  life  had  no  question  as  to  this. 
If  He  were  of  human  origin  solely,  as  we  are,  the  basic 
intent  of  His  visitation  to  the  earth,  as  defined  by  the 
texts  we  have  noted,  would  be  lacking.  Of  necessity, 
there  must  be  that  concerning  the  advent  of  one  who 
comes  from  another  world,  and  that  a  world  of  holi¬ 
ness,  which  shall  be  commensurate  with  the  exaltation 
of  the  Being  who  comes,  and  of  the  value  of  the  re¬ 
demption  which  He  assumes  He  has  come  to  effect. 

We  observe,  therefore,  that  as  our  Blood-Brother, 
He  took  our  blood  into  His  veins,  through  the  life  of 
His  human  mother ;  but  in  turn,  He  came  from  that 
other  world  to  impart  to  us  as  His  blood-brothers,  the 
life  which  Deity  only  could  confer.  There  is  a  fore¬ 
taste,  of  that  conferment  of  life  in  the  grasp  which  St. 
Paul  obtains  of  the  mystery  of  the  sustenance  of  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness.  “  They  did  all  eat 
the  same  spiritual  meat;  they  did  all  drink  the  same 
spiritual  drink ;  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock 
that  followed  them;  and  that  Rock  was  Christ”  (I 
Cor.  10:3,  4).  Chemically  analyzed,  manna,  as  we 
understand  it,  has  not  the  quality  of  sustaining  life. 
Jehovah,  the  covenant-keeping  God,  gave  His  people 
His  own  life  as  they  ate  the  commanded  bread.  The 
heinousness  of  their  unbelief  lay  in  their  repudiation 
of  the  manna  (“  Our  soul  loatheth  this  light  bread.” 
Num.  21 :  5)  ;  for  in  this  mind  they  rejected  Him 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


167 


whose  life  had  been  freely  given  them  through  this 
channel  of  bestowment.  And  we  are  challenged  to 
recognize  that  the  Apostle  would  not,  could  not  have 
thus  qualified  Him  as  the  covenant-keeping  Jehovah 
were  he  not  convinced  by  the  revelation  he  had  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  ascended  Lord  Jesus  (Gal.  1:1,  11, 
12)  of  its  incontrovertible  verity. 

So  we  see  that  the  pre-existent  Jehovah,  whose  life 
was  imparted  in  the  bread  His  children  ate,  and  in  the 
sacrifices  His  children  offered,  was  the  same  Being 
who  sat  before  Nicodemus  to  affirm  that  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  Begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have 
everlasting  life.  In  these  facts  the  union  is  complete. 
A  rebellious  world,  a  dying  world,  is  made  the  recipient 
of  life,  through  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Flesh  of  our  flesh,  that  our  blood  might  flow  through 
His  veins ;  conversely,  that  the  life  which  was  in  Him 
should  be  ours  by  our  willingness  to  accept  the  blood- 
brother  bond  He  came  to  establish. 

As  a  result  of  this  bond,  the  friends  of  our  Blood- 
Brother  become  our  friends.  The  holy  angels  may 
have  been  especially  operative  in  signal  instances  ere 
the  Incarnation.  But  they  are  uniquely  associated  with 
the  life  of  our  Lord  in  His  birth,  temptation,  ministry, 
sufferings  and  resurrection.  And  as  such  to  Him,  He 
has  made  them  to  us,  ministers  to  them  who  shall  be 
heirs  of  salvation  (Heb.  1:14). 

And,  as  He  makes  His  friends  our  friends,  our  foes 
become  His.  To  explain  sin  and  sickness,  calamity 
and  death  as  normal  to  our  original  estate  is  to  vio¬ 
lently  wrest  the  Scriptures.  Wherever  and  whenever 


168  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


He  met  these  conditions,  He  recognized  the  factors 
which  lay  behind  them.  He  was  antagonized  by  the 
presence  of  demons  who  preyed  upon  the  bodies  and 
the  minds  of  men.  He  regarded  sickness  as  of  a  source 
foreign  to  His  Father  and  Himself.  The  raging  storm 
lay  cowering  at  His  feet  when  He  rebuked  the  ele¬ 
ments  which  were  threatening  to  engulf  His  disciples 
in  the  sea.  He  was  indignant  that  self-righteous  sin¬ 
ners  should  pay  homage  to  the  prince  of  sinners,  by 
refusing  to  repent  of  their  sins.  He  wept  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  death  at  Lazarus’  tomb.  For  death  was  a  foe 
of  the  race  He  had  come  to  redeem.  He  openly  de¬ 
clared  that  the  god  of  this  world  had  nothing  in  Him 
(John  8 : 44;  11:35;  12:31;  14:30). 

And  in  turn,  the  forces  of  evil  recognized  their  alien 
position  towards  Him.  Hear  the  demons,  “  I  know 
thee  who  thou  art,  thou  Holy  One  of  God.  Art  thou 
come  to  torment  us  before  the  time?”  (Matt.  8:29; 
Mark  1 :  24,  34;  5:7).  The  prince  himself  cannot  dis¬ 
guise  his  foreign  nature,  when  at  the  temptation,  he 
presents  the  slurring  insinuation,  “If  thou  be  the  Son 
of  God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread  ” 
(Matt.  4:1-11).  The  ministry  of  our  Lord  is  de¬ 
scribed  by  St.  Peter  as  consequent  upon  God’s  anoint¬ 
ing  that  He  should  meet  the  oppression  of  the  Devil 
(Acts  10:38).  He  recognizes  the  bondage  of  the  ac¬ 
cusing  Pharisees  when  He  affirms,  “  Ye  are  of  your 
father,  the  Devil”  (John  8:44).  Let  us  have  a  care 
how  we  dismiss  the  hostile  powers  which  have  held  the 
world  in  bondage,  and  regard  with  lightness  the  union 
of  the  Blood-Brother  with  our  humanity,  expressly 
united  to  us  that  our  foes  might  become  His  and 
through  Him  effectually  defeated.  Even  Job  saw  this 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


169 


in  the  long-drawn  vista  which  broke  upon  his  view, 
“I  know  that  my  Avenger  liveth  ”  (Job  19:25,  26). 
Can  we  stand  with  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  who  declares  that  “  Forasmuch  as  the  chil¬ 
dren  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  likewise,  him¬ 
self  took  part  of  the  same,  that  through  death,  he 
might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death  and 
deliver  them,  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage  ”  (Heb.  2:14,  15)  ? 

In  identifying  Himself  as  the  Blood-Brother  of  the 
human  race,  an  essential  of  this  qualifying  was  that  He 
should  partake  of  the  sufferings  which  had  been  im¬ 
posed  upon  the  race  by  that  being  who  brought  sin  and 
suffering  into  the  world.  Hence,  the  Apostle  Matthew 
in  describing  His  healings  declared  that  He  fulfilled 
the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  53,  by  taking  into  His  own 
body  the  sufferings  He  had  removed  from  others.  Let 
us  be  thoughtful  as  to  this.  Where  could  these  mala¬ 
dies  go,  once  they  left  the  bodies  of  the  oppressed? 
Rationalism  may  invent  its  answers.  But  St.  Matthew's 
is  best.  He  took  them,  bare  them,  but  since,  as  we 
have  seen,  He  tabernacled  in  a  body  that  was  sinless, 
the  ills  which  fell  to  Him  were  reduced  to  nothing 
because  of  the  holiness  within  Him  which,  as  we  know, 
was,  in  the  nature  of  His  purity,  a  fire  that  could  con¬ 
sume  sickness  by  the  very  essence  of  its  being.  “  Our 
God  is  a  consuming  fire  ”  (Heb.  12:  29). 

As  our  Blood-Brother,  we  come  to  see  Him  in  the 
light  of  New  Testament  teaching,  united  to  us  and  we 
with  Him  in  the  indissoluble  bonds  of  God's  love.  The 
love  with  which  God  loved  Him  is  ours,  because  we 
are  His  (John  17:26).  But  this  love  thus  joining  us 
cannot  be  until  we  are  willing  to  acknowledge  that  it 


170  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


was  consummated  in  the  death  of  the  Son  of  God  for 
us.  Our  Blood-Brother  had  to  die.  St.  Paul  beheld 
the  secret  of  the  transaction.  “  I  have  been  crucified 
with  Christ ;  nevertheless  I  live ;  and  yet  not  I  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me.  And  the  life  which  I  now  live  in 
the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me  ”  (Gal.  2 :20).  This 
is  generally  taken  as  substitution ;  and  so  it  is ;  “  for 
me  ”  can  mean  nothing  short  of  that.  But  it  is  more. 
The  Apostle  means  “  When  He  died,  I  died  with  Him. 
My  blood  flowed  from  His  veins.  In  the  person  of 
my  Lord  I  was  crucified.  Thus,  as  my  Blood-Brother 
He  is  identified  with  me  and  I  am  identified  with 
Him.” 

This  prepares  us  to  comprehend  what  the  same 
Apostle  discerns  as  the  two-fold  result  of  the  Cross. 
There  was  a  bond  which  we  had  forfeited.  As  we 
could  not  meet  its  demands,  for  love  of  us  He  took  it 
out  of  the  way  and  nailed  it  to  His  Cross.  Thus  to 
them  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  there  is  no  judgment 
(John  5:25;  Rom.  8 : 1 ;  II  Cor.  5:21;  Col.  2:13,  14) . 
But  the  Cross  did  something  more.  In  the  death  of 
our  Blood-Brother,  who  met  our  foes  and  for  us  over¬ 
came  them  (Heb.  2 :  14)  the  territory  occupied  by  them 
has  been  invaded  on  our  behalf  and  we  are  placed  in  a 
position  of  access  to  God  which  before  the  Cross  was 
not  provided.  In  the  mind  of  the  Apostle,  according 
to  Col.  2:15,  there  was  a  heavenward  side  to  the 
transaction.  This  same  Apostle  in  another  Epistle 
defines  the  realm  of  Satanic  operations  as  spiritual  and 
heavenly.  “  We  wrestle  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  but 
against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers,  against 
the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  age,  against  spiritual 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


171 


hosts  of  wickedness  in  the  heavenlies  ”  (Eph.  6:  12). 
But  we  are  to  “  be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power 
of  His  might  ”  for  that  we  recognize  these  forces  as 
defeated  by  our  Blood-Brother  in  our  behalf.  The 
occasion  of  this  defeat  is  set  as  the  time  of  the  Cross, 
for  we  read  in  the  Colossian  passage,  after  the  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  removal  of  the  bond,  “  Having  despoiled 
the  principalities,  he  made  a  show  of  them  openly, 
triumphing  over  them  in  it.”  To  this,  the  writer  of  the 
Hebrews  gives  confirmation,  when  he  testifies  that  it 
was  the  death  of  Jesus  which  consecrated  for  us  a  new 
and  living  way  (Heb.  10:  19,  20).  We  recall  that  at 
the  instant  of  His  departure,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was 
rent,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  (Matt.  27:  51).  Thus, 
the  rending  of  the  veil  which  had  obscured  the  Deity, 
that  is  to  say,  His  flesh,  obtained  for  the  blood- 
brethren,  to  whom  He  had  united  Himself,  a  place  in 
the  heavenlies  which  had  been  closed  hitherto.  For, 
according  to  this  same  writer,  the  way  into  the  holy 
place  was  not  yet  made  manifest,  while  the  first  taber¬ 
nacle  was  yet  standing  (Heb.  9:8).  It  was  through 
the  rending  of  the  veil  of  the  living  tabernacle  in 
which  the  Son  of  God  dwelt  that  the  transaction  was 
effected. 

So  that  now,  having  come  into  the  world  to  meet  sin 
and  its  author  on  our  behalf,  our  Blood-Brother  places 
us  in  the  heavenlies,  where  we  sit  down  in  redemption 
freedom  and  fellowship  (Eph.  2:1-10).  “Our  citi¬ 
zenship  is  in  the  heavenlies  ”  (Phil.  3  :  20).  The  terror 
of  God  which  resides  in  every  human  breast,  illustrated 
by  the  dismay  of  the  demons  as  they  met  Him,  is 
removed  in  those  who  have  accepted  Him  as  their 
Blood-Brother.  They  are  reconciled ;  they  are  in  the 


172  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Beloved ;  they  receive  of  His  Father,  who  now  has 
become  theirs,  the  favor  and  affection  which  He  has 
always  enjoyed;  they  can  never  perish;  because  He 
lives  by  the  mighty  power  with  which  He  is  invested, 
they  too  shall  live  forevermore  (Rom.  5:1;  Eph.  1:6; 
Col.  1:19-22;  John  10:28;  14:19). 

We  have  yet  another  stone  to  lay  in  the  fabric  of 
this  building.  His  becoming  our  Blood-Brother  links 
us  to  Him  as  sharers  in  the  power  and  the  glory  which 
He  possesses.  His  place  in  creation  is  dogmatically 
set  forth  in  the  New  Testament  (John  1:1-3;  Col. 
1 :  15-18;  Heb.  1 :  1-3).  The  dynamics  of  the  universe 
are  under  His  administration  (Eph.  1:18-23;  Matt. 
28:20;  I  Tim.  6:  15,  16).  The  exaltation  which  the 
Father  has  given  Him,  He  elects  to  give  to  His  own 
(John  17:2,  22).  If  therefore  He  has  become  pre¬ 
eminent,  above  every  creation  in  the  universe,  and 
guarantees  to  His  blood-brethren  all  the  rights  and  pre¬ 
rogatives  which  He  possesses,  we  have  the  firm  and 
enduring  provision  that  life  for  our  bodies  now  shall 
be  within  the  compass  of  this  wonderful  redemption 
which  He  has  wrought  for  us.  While  the  mystics  are 
cooing  over  the  cosmic  life ;  the  devotees  of  Buddhistic 
occultism  are  doting  on  the  universal  life  which  all 
men  may  cultivate,  the  blood-brethren  of  the  Son  of 
God  stand  upon  a  rock  of  certainty.  He  is  not,  can¬ 
not  be  a  great  prophet  lined  on  the  walls  of  time  with 
Confucius,  Buddha,  Mohammed,  Zoroaster.  He  is  the 
unique  Son  of  God,  the  possessor  and  dispenser  of 
life.  The  life  which  He  gives  is  life  indeed.  We  may 
have  as  much  of  it  as  we  choose ;  we  may  have  as  little 
as  our  doubts  will  allow.  But  the  life  is  there  in 


OUR  BLOOD  BROTHER 


173 


abundance.  For  life  is  in  Himself ;  and  in  Him  all 
have  life  in  the  measure  of  their  capacity  to  receive. 

This  discussion  would  not  be  complete  without  de¬ 
vout  reference  to  the  evident  meaning  of  the  Lord’s 
Supper,  instituted  by  Him  ere  He  should  pour  out  His 
life-blood  in  our  behalf.  Why  did  He  set  apart  the 
bread  and  the  wine  as  the  perpetual  emblems  of  His 
death?  Why  do  we  in  partaking,  show  forth  that 
death  until  He  come  (I  Cor.  11:26)?  Are  we  con¬ 
tent  to  think  of  this  sacred  memorial  only  as  com¬ 
memorative?  Is  it  not  that  we  shall  renew  our  con¬ 
sciousness  that  He  “the  Mighty  God”  (Isa.  9:6) 
came  into  this  world  to  take  our  blood  into  His  veins 
that  we  might  be  identified  with  Him  in  His  death? 
Do  we  recall  that  the  blood  of  the  pledged  blood- 
brother  was  received  into  the  body  of  the  fellow  whom 
he  had  chosen  to  that  union  with  him?  Is  He  not 
calling  us  to  recogniize  that  His  life  which  embraces 
all  life,  and  lay  in  His  blood,  is  to  be  received  as  liter¬ 
ally  in  our  bodies  as  the  visible  emblems  of  His  death  ? 
In  the  Old  Testament  the  blood  might  not  be  eaten 
(Gen.  9:4)  ;  but  in  the  New,  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
God  incarnated  in  our  flesh  is  the  very  source  of  life. 
For  “  the  life  is  in  the  blood.”  “  This  is  my  body, 
broken  for  you ;  this  is  my  blood  which  is  shed  for 
you  and  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sin  ”  must  have 
a  new  meaning  to  those  who  will  receive  the  blood- 
brother  bond  with  Him.  May  the  sweet  mystery  be 
unfolded  to  all  as  each  is  able  to  receive  it. 

How  blessedly  does  this  concept  remove  us  from  the 
pride  of  humanity,  the  poise  of  self-sufficiency,  the 
exaltation  of  the  intellect !  Meekly  do  we  bow  before 


174  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Him  and  acknowledge  Him  as  our  life;  not  an 
absentee-God  as  is  often  claimed  by  the  critics,  but 
flesh  of  our  flesh,  bone  of  our  bone ;  yet  in  verity, 
“  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  Very  God  of  Very 
God,”  one  with  us  forevermore. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH. 


Christianity  is  essentially  a  faith.  Other  systems 
may  be  religions;  this  stands  apart  from  them  all  in  its 
unique  and  challenging  position  of  “  the  faith  once  for 
all  delivered  unto  the  saints”  (Jude  3). 

And  it  is  more  than  a  faith  in  high  ideals  and 
methods  of  life;  or  even  faith  in  a  salvation  objectively 
accomplished  for  us.  It  is  preeminently  and  command- 
ingly  a  faith  in  a  Person.  It  is  the  Christian  faith 
because  it  centers  in  the  Christ  of  God,  who  came  from 
His  Father  into  this  world  to  reveal  God  and  to  unite 
to  Himself  all  who  will  to  accept  Him.  We  may  assert 
without  reservation,  that  if  this  is  not  the  fundamental 
of  Christianity,  the  entire  structure  of  the  truth  which 
it  embodies  is  doomed  to  ultimate  disintegration. 

The  very  nature  of  faith,  therefore,  so  far  as  Chris¬ 
tianity  is  concerned,  exacts  a  heart-searching  on  the 
part  of  every  honest  seeker  for  the  truth,  that  he  may 
know  “  the  truth  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus  ”  (Eph. 
4:21).  To  this  end,  no  price  is  too  high  to  pay,  no 
sacrifice  too  great.  If  we  approach  the  question  by  the 
avenues  of  the  intellect,  we  shall  fail,  utterly  fail  to 
comprehend  God’s  concept  of  faith.  The  charge  is 
made  in  this  highly  cultured  day  that  the  unlettered 
are  conspicuous  for  boldness  in  contending  for  the 
faith.  This  is  not  a  new  situation  (Acts  4:13;  I  Cor. 
1 :  18-21).  The  scholarly,  on  the  other  hand,  are  hesi¬ 
tant,  cautious,  compromising.  The  introduction  of 

175 


176  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


modern  scholarship,  the  findings  of  modern  science 
have  determined  the  attitude  of  the  present  age  regard¬ 
ing  the  Bible  and  its  deposit  of  truth  upon  which  faith 
must  be  founded.  The  masses  of  the  educated  are 
either  fixed  in  their  doubt  of  that  which  was  reverently 
cherished  by  their  ancestors ;  or,  like  a  well-known 
preacher,  they  dismiss  the  problem  of  faith  with  an 
excusing  release  from  committal,  “  I  don’t  know.  I 
don’t  think  that  anybody  knows.”  With  this  negative 
creed,  he  led  hundreds  of  thousands  into  his  own  quag¬ 
mire.  Those  of  us  who  knew  him  in  the  days  of  his 
stalwart  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God,  when  he 
strengthened  myriads  by  his  uplifting  utterances,  can 
well  recall  that  he  deviated  from  the  old  paths  when 
he  made  that  Word  the  object  of  intellectual  analysis. 
Let  us  be  appraised  that  it  will  not  yield  its  precious 
juices  in  the  crucible  of  mental  exactitude ;  it  lies  limp 
and  impotent  in  our  hands  if  we  subject  it  to  humanly 
devised  laboratory  tests. 

So,  the  method  of  understanding  the  Book  is  the 
crucial  ordeal  in  the  modern  conflict.  If  it  is  purely 
human  in  its  origin,  it  deserves  to  be  treated  as  any 
other  human  book.  But  if  it  is  divine  in  its  essence, 
not  intellect,  but  faith  is  the  pre-requisite.  For  the 
revelation  of  God  can  never  become  vital  through  the 
cold  processes  of  psychical  research.  Let  us  not  for¬ 
get  that  the  Apostle  sounded  out  this  warning  when  he 
wrote  to  his  Corinthian  friends  (I  Cor.  2:  14),  “The 
psychical  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.”  Of  all  the  things  which  the  Spirit  is  claimed 
to  have  originated,  the  Word  of  God  is  superlatively 
eminent.  The  following  passages  sound  no  uncertain 
note  as  to  this :  II  Sam.  23:2;  Micah  3:7;  Mark 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


177 


12:36;  Luke  1:70;  Acts  1 :  16 ;  3 :  19-21 ;  28:26;  II 
Tim.  3:15-17;  Heb.  3:7;  9:8;  10:  15;  I  Peter  1:11; 
II  Peter  1:21;  Rev.  19:10.  If,  therefore,  any  man 
will  comprehend  the  Book,  let  him  go  to  the  Author, 
who  used  weak  and  sinful  men  to  transcribe  what  He 
designed  should  be  for  reproof,  correction,  instruction, 
that  the  man  of  God  should  be  thoroughly  furnished. 
Admitting  all  the  apparent  “  inerrantly  dictated  scien¬ 
tific  opinions,  medical  theories,  historical  judgments  as 
well  as  spiritual  insight  ”  by  the  writers  of  the  Book, 
there  remains  yet  the  challenge  that  if  there  is  any 
Holy  Spirit,  if  He  did  in  any  case  reveal  truth  to  men, 
then,  to  be  the  Holy  Spirit,  He  could  not  have  been 
negligent  of  the  errors ;  but  allowed  them  to  stand, 
since  they  were  not  essential  to  the  rounded  purpose 
He  held  in  furnishing  the  Book  to  the  people  of  God. 
We  may  reverently  believe  that  just  as  it  stands  He 
would  have  it  for  uses  best  known  to  Himself. 

To  comprehend  the  Book  in  which  the  Christian 
faith  is  embraced,  we  must  needs  understand,  by  the 
same  Spirit  who  gave  us  the  Book,  the  Christ  whom 
it  exalts.  To  the  amazed  disciples  who  could  not  see 
why  He  should  be  taken  from  them,  the  Lord  Jesus 
registers  the  protest,  “  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go 
away ;  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  ” 
(John  16:7).  Somebody  peculiarly  qualified,  whom 
He  should  send  from  the  Father,  should  bring  them 
illumination  and  energizing.  It  was  the  hunger  of  His 
heart  that  this  Holy  Spirit  should  enter  upon  that  par¬ 
ticular  office.  There  is  a  significant  incident  in  His 
life  where  we  discern  the  fact.  At  the  close  of  the 
feast  of  the  Tabernacles,  He  stood  and  cried,  saying, 
“  If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink; 


178  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 

he  that  belie veth  in  me  from  within  him  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  water”  (John  7:37-39).  The  writer 
of  the  gospel  explains  that  this  was  to  be  through  the 
expected  Spirit,  who  was  not  yet,  because  that  Jesus 
was  not  yet  glorified. 

There  was,  then,  to  be  a  time  when  that  Holy  Spirit 
should  come  to  earth  just  as  the  Lord  had,  with  a 
purpose  distinctly  His  own.  And  a  part  of  His  unique 
mission  was  to  “  testify  ”  of  the  Lord  Himself  (John 
15:26).  They  (His  amazed  disciples)  supposed  they 
knew  Him;  but  they  did  not,  as  they  were  to  know 
Him,  as  the  events  of  Pentecost  and  subsequent  testi¬ 
mony  disclose.  They  saw  Him  only  on  the  flesh  plane. 
This,  the  Apostle  clearly  defines  as  insufficient;  aye,  it 
was  as  a  hindrance  to  vital  spiritual  enlightenment 
(II  Cor.  5:  16,  17).  To  know  Him  as  Simon  Peter 
did  in  one  flash  of  time,  because  the  Father  had  re¬ 
vealed  Him  to  his  spiritual  vision  (Matt.  16:  16)  was 
to  become  the  perpetual  knowledge  after  the  Com¬ 
forter  should  come. 

Our  Lord,  Himself,  makes  this  very  clear,  when  He 
utters  a  statement  that  should  be  engraven  upon  the 
heart  of  every  spiritual  believer.  Refer  to  the  memor¬ 
able  words  in  Matt.  11 : 27,  “  No  man  knoweth  the  Son 
but  the  Father.”  There  is  a  knowledge  of  Him  which 
is  preciously  cherished  in  the  bosom  of  God.  He  longs 
to  impart  that  knowledge  to  willing  hearts,  who  will 
receive  His  Holy  Spirit  in  simple  faith.  We  are  bound 
to  assert  that  only  those  who  submit  to  the  Father’s 
method  of  imparting  that  knowledge  of  the  Son  can 
enter  this  realm  of  spiritual  revelation. 

We  are  hearing  much  these  days  of  “  The  New 
Knowledge  and  the  Christian  Faith.”  This  new  knowl- 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


179 


edge  reaches  down  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  and 
brings  forth  fossil  remains  for  the  building  of  hy¬ 
potheses  as  to  the  origin  of  life;  it  has  scanned  the 
heavens  and  ascertained  the  chemistry  of  the  stars ;  it 
has  discovered  the  microbe  and  remedies  for  combat¬ 
ing  it ;  it  has  harnessed  the  forces  of  the  atmosphere ; 
it  has  made  the  impossible  of  yesterday  the  common¬ 
place  utility  of  today.  And  because  it  has  done  this, 
it  has  not  only  knocked  at  the  door  of  Christian  faith, 
but  impudently  stalked  in  to  assert  its  authority  to 
furnish  a  key  to  the  understanding  of  God’s  Word. 
And  kindly  disposed  preachers,  prelates  and  professors 
of  the  Christian  Church  have  welcomed  this  invader 
in  a  sincere  belief  that  it  will  prove  to  be  the  real  in¬ 
terpreter  of  spiritual  truth.  But  can  we  be  sure  that 
this  assumption  will  be  honored  of  God?  If  it  be  not 
true,  an  astounding  wrong  will  have  been  perpetrated 
upon  the  possible  destiny  of  men.  Let  us  respectfully 
ask,  Are  the  essential  elements  of  salvation  dependent 
upon  modern  research?  Does  it  find  in  sin  any  other 
(or  better)  than  God’s  definition?  Will  it  remove  the 
barriers  which  have  separated  God  from  His  crea¬ 
tures?  Will  it  enhance  the  ecstatic  declaration  of  the 
Apostle,  “  God  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out 
of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts  to  give  the  light 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ”  (II  Cor.  4:6)?  The  rather,  hard  is  it 
to  say  it,  the  New  Knowledge  has  blunted  the  keen 
edges  of  conscience  for  sin ;  has  blurred  the  vision  of 
the  hungry  seekers  for  God ;  has  immersed  the  Cross 
in  a  mist  of  speculation ;  has  darkened  the  hope  of 
immortality ;  has  left  men  uncertain  of  the  very  things 
upon  which  the  Word  of  God  speaks  with  positive 


180  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


note;  has  robbed  our  theological  seminaries  of  hun¬ 
dreds  of  dedicated  young  men,  who  have  been  led  to 
believe  that  the  Christian  ministry  has  no  affirmative 
note.  No.  The  New  Knowledge  has  a  legitimate 
sphere  of  action,  but  it  is  as  foreign  to  the  divine  pro¬ 
vision  of  the  comprehension  of  the  Son  of  God  as 
darkness  is  to  light.  The  Father  reserves  to  Him¬ 
self  the  authority  to  reveal  His  Son.  (Gal.  1:15,  16) 
O  the  glory  of  it,  that  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the  ob¬ 
scure  may  be  partakers  of  that  which  the  cultured  may 
lose.  (I  Cor.  1 :  18-31)  ;  O  the  pity  of  it  that  human 
pride  of  intellect  can  restrain  thousands  of  dear  souls 
who  will  not  submit  to  the  divine  illumination,  but  cling 
tenaciously  to  their  self-opinionated  standards. 

A  story  which  I  am  fond  of  telling  in  this  connec¬ 
tion  may  be  useful :  Following  the  delivery  of  a  Christ¬ 
mas  sermon  in  which  the  preacher  urged  the  acceptance 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  as  essential  to  a  right 
comprehension  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  one  of  the  men  of 
his  congregation,  a  clear  thinker  and  cultured,  too,  went 
to  the  rector’s  study  in  a  state  of  mind.  His  protest 
was,  “  I  do  not  like  your  sermon.  It  antagonized  me. 
I  cannot  bring  myself  to  accept  this  doctrine.  My 
regard  for  Him  is  as  reverent  as  that  of  any  man ;  but 
I  cannot  think  of  Him  as  being  a  particle  different  as 
to  His  birth  from  the  rest  of  humanity.  To  accept  this 
idea  would  take  Him  out  of  my  life,  would  prove  a 
perpetual  source  of  confusion.  Besides  the  Incarna¬ 
tion  as  you  present  it  offends  my  sense  of  delicacy. 
To  think  of  Him  as  born  out  of  the  regular  course  of 
nature  would  be  to  put  a  blight  upon  Him  and  His 
mother.”  The  rector  quietly  listened  to  the  impas¬ 
sioned  outburst  and  then  gently  advised,  “  You  will 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


181 


never  get  anywhere  in  this  matter  by  an  argumentative 
pathway.  Nor,  so  I  think,  can  you  get  away  from  the 
problem.  You  are  an  honest  man.  You  want  ground 
for  your  beliefs.  You  will  not  accept  a  half  truth,  nor 
will  you  take  second-hand  what  others  may  dictate  to 
you.  There  is  one  thing  you  can  do ;  and  I  am  sure 
you  will  do  it.  It  is  to  cease  controverting  the  question 
and  give  yourself  to  prayer.  Will  you  fervently  ask 
that  God  will  bestow  upon  you  His  Holy  Spirit?”  A 
ready  and  relieved  assent  to  this  proposition  was  given 
and  he  left  to  make  his  quest.  After  some  days,  he 
caught  the  vision;  and,  charged  with  joy,  he  rushed  to 
his  rector,  grasping  him  by  both  hands,  and  exclaimed, 
“  O  my  brother,  God  has  revealed  to  my  heart,  what  I 
tried  and  failed  to  see  by  my  intellect.  I  believe  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  incarnated  Son  of  God.” 

With  all  my  soul,  I  would  that  myriads  of  men  and 
women  who  are  baffled  over  this  challenging  problem, 
would  follow  the  advice  of  this  sensible  rector.  It  will 
not  do  to  sink  into  the  apathy  of  unconcern  and  declare 
with  resignation,  “  I  cannot  understand,  and  I  do  not 
see  that  I  should.”  Let  me  reverently  affirm  that  if 
there  can  be  one  thing  above  another  that  God  longs  to 
do  in  willing  hearts,  it  is  to  reveal  His  Son  to  the 
spiritual  consciousness  of  all  who  will  consent  to  be 
illumined,  not  by  scholarly  erudition,  but  by  the  sim¬ 
plicity  of  Christ,  through  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  (I  Cor.  12:3;  II  Cor.  10:3-5). 

This,  then,  is  the  foundation  of  our  faith.  We  take 
the  Word  of  God,  as  He  has  been  pleased  to  preserve 
it  to  us  and  regard  it  as  “  it  is  in  truth,  not  the  word  of 
men,  but  the  Word  of  God  which  effectually  worketh 


182  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


in  them  that  believe  ”  (I  Thess.  2:  13).  We  accept  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  whom  alone  by  the  will 
of  God  we  can  know  the  Son  of  God.  Then,  with  this 
enlightenment,  all  intelligent  study  will  follow  in  order. 
We  shall  have  the  spiritual  keenness  of  perception 
which  will  discern  the  proportions  of  truth;  and  have 
to  give  to  every  man  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in 
us  (I  Peter  3 :  15). 

The  next  and  essential  step  in  our  pursuit  of  the 
knowledge  of  faith,  is  the  comprehension  of  the  fact 
that  our  Lord  Himself  lived  a  life  of  faith,  ere  He 
was  qualified  to  bestow  faith  to  His  own.  Do  we  ever 
think,  as  we  sing  the  familiar  hymn,  “  My  faith  looks 
up  to  Thee,”  that  really  we  have  none  that  could  pos¬ 
sibly  be  acceptable  to  God?  It  must  come  from  Him. 
Let  us  recall  some  of  the  passages  where  the  ascription 
of  faith  is  His:  Mark  11:22;  Gal.  2:20;  Phil.  3:9; 
Gal.  5 : 22,  23 ;  I  Cor.  12:9;  Heb.  11:3.  Perhaps  the 
best  illustration  of  this  lies  in  the  right  interpretation 
of  that  wonderful  passage  in  Eph.  2:1-10.  The 
kernel  of  the  paragraph  is  verse  8,  “  By  grace  are  ye 
saved  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves ;  it  is 
the  gift  of  God.”  We  note  that  “  grace  ”  is  a  distinctly 
New  Testament  term.  Its  use  in  Greek  or  other  litera¬ 
ture  implies  only  that  which  is  attractive  in  form  or 
character.  But  here  the  word  conveys  the  idea  of  the 
longing  of  God  for  the  love  of  men,  a  hunger  to  dwell 
in  their  hearts.  So,  by  its  very  definition,  grace  is  the 
gift  of  God;  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  Therefore,  the 
Apostle  would  not  need  to  say  that  of  it.  What  he 
designs  to  declare  is  that  the  faith  by  which  we  appre¬ 
hend  the  grace  of  God  is  the  gift:  “  By  grace  are  ye 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


183 


saved  through  faith ;  and  that  (the  faith  you  exercise) 
is  not  of  yourselves;  it  (the  faith)  is  the  gift  of  God.” 

This  is  not  to  release  us  from  personal  responsibility 
as  might  be  assumed  by  those  who  have  not  seen  it 
this  way ;  but  the  rather  to  deepen  that  responsibility, 
since  responsibility  is  our  response  to  God’s  ability ; 
and  that  ability  is  constantly  expressed  in  His  prom¬ 
ises  to  us.  Let  us  see  how  reasonable  this  is :  By  our 
own  act  we  breathe,  we  eat.  But  the  breathing  faculty 
was  given  to  us ;  we  did  not  invent  it.  The  capacity 
for  food,  the  ability  to  enjoy  food,  the  quality  in  food 
which  nourishes  us,  the  processes  of  assimilation  are 
all  God’s  gifts.  And  yet  we  exercise  what  is  our  pre¬ 
rogative  in  this  department  of  our  life.  So,  we  reason 
that  until  we  perceive  that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God  and 
that  it  comes  through  our  Lord  Jesus,  consequent  upon 
His  redemptive  work  for  us,  we  are  not  settled  in  our 
convictions,  nor  are  we  equipped  for  the  triumphs 
of  faith. 

When  we  make  the  statement  that  our  Lord  lived  a 
life  of  faith,  no  doubt  it  will  strike  an  unsympathetic 
chord  in  some  hearts.  Most  naturally,  if  we  accept  His 
Deity-Sonship,  we  embrace  the  concept  that  all  things 
were  possible  to  Him,  and  that  He  was  above  the  need 
of  faith,  as  we  are  conditioned.  But,  how  could  He 
reprove  the  lack  of  faith  in  others  if  He  did  not  exer¬ 
cise  it  Himself  (Matt.  8:26;  14:31;  17:20;  Mark 
4:  40)  ?  If  He  were  in  all  points  tried  as  we  are,  He 
must  know  experimentally  what  our  testings  are.  In 
this  lies  the  import  of  His  emptying  (Greek  for  Phil. 
2:7).  His  advent  into  this  world  was  through  the 
Holy  Spirit  (Luke  1  :  35)  ;  His  ministry  began  with  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (Matt.  3:16);  the  same 


184  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


Spirit  led  Him  forth  to  His  trial  in  the  wilderness 
(Matt.  4:1);  He  constantly  pleaded  that  He  was  not 
qualified  to  do  anything  or  say  anything  apart  from 
the  inspiration  and  energizing  of  God,  through  the 
Spirit  who  possessed  Him  (John  5:19,  30;  8:28; 
14:  10).  And  in  this  fact  lies  the  mystery  of  the  agony 
of  Gethsemane.  His  passion  was  to  do  the  Father’s 
will  (John  4:34;  6:38;  8:29).  The  tragedy  of  Cal¬ 
vary  had  been  anticipated  with  triumphant  joy.  He 
had  declared  to  His  disciples  that  with  desire  He  had 
desired  to  eat  the  Passover  with  His  disciples  ere  He 
should  suffer  (Luke  22:  15)  ;  He  had  sung  with  them 
the  great  Hallel  in  which  is  the  118th  Psalm;  He  had 
gone  forth  to  the  garden  with  His  disciples  for  a  last 
hour  of  communion  with  His  Father,  in  the  place 
where  He  was  wont  to  meet  Him  (Luke  21:37).  I 
have  endeavored  to  give  the  reason  why  He  was  sud¬ 
denly  and  so  unexpectedly  overcome  with  the  nausea 
of  exhaustion  in  my  treatise,  “  Redemption,”  pages 
43-45.  So  will  not  more  than  urge  that  we  see  in  it 
not  a  shrinking  from  the  Cross  as  has  been  so  often 
contended;  that  therefore  He  registered  by  His  fear 
of  death  one  prayer  that  His  Father  could  not  answer ; 
but  that  this  invasion  was  permitted  Him  in  order  that 
He  might  prove  His  faith  in  His  Father  by  holding 
firmly  to  His  Father’s  care  and  will.  That  He  did  not 
have  to  drink  the  cup  from  which  He  drew  back ;  that 
He  was  heard  for  His  faith  (godly  fear)  is  distinctly 
asserted  by  the  writer  of  the  Hebrews  (Heb.  5:7,  8). 
I  believe  we  may  assure  ourselves  that  He  was  more 
triumphant  in  that  hour  than  in  any  of  His  devoted 
life.  And  when  we  are  surrendered,  utterly  sur¬ 
rendered  as  He  was,  we  too  come  nearer  to  God  than 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


185 


at  any  other  time.  For  faith  grows  rich  not  in  the 
sunshine  of  accomplishment,  but  in  the  dark  recesses 
of  our  Gethsemane  where  God  alone  is  craved  and  the 
will  of  God  rises  in  the  breast  as  the  supreme  quest. 

So  then,  the  same  Spirit  who  dwelt  in  Him  for  the 
doing  of  the  Father’s  will,  for  the  energizing  of  faith, 
is  ours  to  receive.  And  when  He  comes  to  live  in  us 
by  our  voluntary  hospitality,  He  will  incite  in  us  the 
longing  for  the  things  which  the  Father  designs  to 
give.  This  was  not  bondage  in  our  Lord’s  life;  it  will 
not  be  in  ours.  The  rather,  it  raises  us  up  to  the 
supreme  altitude  of  freedom  and  achievement  (Rom. 
8:  26,  27).  If  we  rebel  against  this  order,  experienced 
by  our  Lord  and  to  be  reproduced  in  us,  we  may  live 
a  good  life,  we  may  be  used  of  God,  but  superlative 
achievement  in  the  life  of  faith  will  be  lacking. 

And  the  key  to  this  life  of  faith  lies  in  overmaster¬ 
ing  love  to  Him.  For  where  love  reigns,  there  is  no 
barrier  to  accomplishment.  This  is  why  we  contend 
that  faith  is  a  faculty  of  the  affection.  Cold  intel¬ 
lectual  faith  (if  indeed  that  can  be  called  faith)  has 
no  vital  power.  Only  they  who  are  bound  to  our  Lord 
in  the  chains  of  love  can  know  the  dynamics  of  faith. 
God  endeavored  to  teach  this  to  His  ancient  people 
under  the  law  (Deut.  6:5);  how  much  more  may  it  be 
the  inspiration  and  impulse  for  dedicated  New  Testa¬ 
ment  living.  To  His  own,  our  Lord  Jesus  pleads,  “  If 
ye  love  me  ye  will  keep  my  commandments  ”  (John 
14:  15),  after  which  He  promises  the  Spirit  of  truth 
who  in  His  place  is  to  abide  with  them  (and  us)  to  the 
end.  We  recall  how  the  test  of  discipleship  lay  in  the 
personal  appeal  to  Simon  Peter,  “  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  ”  (John  21:15-17).  Only  when  that 


186  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


love  was  confessed  could  he  go  forth  to  his  work  for 
Him.  And  St.  Paul  crystallizes  the  teaching  in  the 
pronouncement  that  all  that  avails  in  the  spiritual  life 
is  “  faith  which  worketh  by  love  ”  (Gal.  5:6).  Let  us 
be  assured  then,  that  much  of  our  faith  is  valueless, 
when  it  lacks  the  essentials  we  have  noted ;  and  it  fails 
to  rise  to  the  altitude  of  making  Him  the  center  and 
circumference  of  love  which  loves  in  spite  of  all  re¬ 
versed  hope  or  crushed  expectation.  For  if  surrender 
to  the  will  of  the  Lord  and  an  overflowing  love  to  the 
Lord  be  absent,  though  He  may  cherish  us  and  give 
us  blessings  many,  we  are  deficient  of  our  full  in¬ 
heritance  in  Him.  He  must  be  first  and  preeminent,  if 
He  is  to  make  us  the  channel  of  His  outworking. 

It  is  just  here  that  we  part  company  with  that  in¬ 
creasingly  large  company  of  professing  Christians  who 
are  exploiting  the  slogan  of  Peace,  Prosperity  and 
Power.  Their  testimony  thrills  with  achievement, 
acquisition  and  gratification.  But  they  are  after  things 
and  they  claim  they  get  them.  He  is  to  them  but  the 
channel  of  obtainment.  Can  this  be  of  Him?  If  faith 
is  but  a  means  to  an  end ;  if  “  only  believe  ”  includes 
the  seeking  and  receiving;  if  the  life  of  the  Giver  is 
not  sought,  there  must  be  a  flaw  somewhere.  May  this 
not  be  the  exhibition  of  those  who  taking  God’s  con¬ 
ferment  “enter  by  some  other  way”  (John  10:1)? 
A  woman  of  this  class  who  had  entered  this  field  of 
experimentation  and  failed,  rather  exultingly  declared 
to  me  some  time  ago,  “  I  have  given  up  praying.”  To 
my  astonished  inquiry,  “  How  came  that  ?  ”  she  replied, 
“O,  there’s  no  use.  You  don’t  get  what  you  ask  for.” 
Curious  to  see  what  might  be  her  response,  I  ques¬ 
tioned,  “  Don’t  you  know  that  all  the  promises  of  God 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


187 


have  hinges,  one  side  of  which  is  human,  the  other 
divine  ?  ”  “  No,  I  do  not.”  I  then  gave  her  Psa.  37 :  4, 
“  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Ford ;  and  he  shall  give 
thee  the  desires  of  thy  heart.”  With  a  searching  look 
into  her  eyes,  I  interrogated,  “  Do  you  delight  yourself 
in  the  Lord  ?  ”  I  was  quite  prepared  for  her  snappy 
reply,  “  No,  I  don’t.”  Then  I  pressed  upon  her  the 
words  of  our  Lord  in  John  15:7,  “If  ye  abide  in  me 
and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will 
and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you.”  When  I  sought  her 
mind  as  to  her  compliance  with  these  conditions,  she 
acknowledged  with  a  crestfallen  look  that  she  had 
failed  to  comprehend  it. 

Can  we  not  see  that  faith,  true  faith,  seeks  more 
than  the  things  that  God  can  give?  When  Job  was  in 
the  depths  of  his  trial,  he  rose  to  sublime  heights  as  he 
exclaimed,  “  Though  he  slay  me  yet  will  I  trust  in 
him”  (Job.  13:15);  and  again  he  exulted  in  God 
when  he  declared,  “  I  have  esteemed  the  words  of  his 
mouth  more  than  my  necessary  food”  (Job  23:12). 
So  Jeremiah  (Jer.  15:16).  Hear  the  Psalmist,  who 
uttered  the  grandest  exclamation  of  faith,  “  Whom 
have  I  in  heaven  but  thee;  and  there  is  none  upon 
earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee”  (Psa.  73:25).  And 
the  New  Testament  tingles  with  this  exultation. 

And  when  faith  is  thus  anchored  in  God  it  never 
asks  doubting  questions,  never  fears,  never  fails  God. 
St.  Paul  makes  Abraham  a  conspicuous  illustration. 
When  this  “friend  of  God”  (II  Chron.  20:7;  Isa. 
41:8;  James  2:23)  offered  to  worldly-minded  Lot, 
his  unspiritual  nephew,  what  part  of  the  land  he  might 
elect  for  himself,  that  avaricious  being  chose  the  “  well- 
watered  plain  of  Jordan”  (Gen.  13),  Abraham  was 


188  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


not  moved  with  pity  on  his  own  behalf,  though  this 
left  him  but  the  barren  highlands.  Abraham  was 
centered  in  God.  Lot  was  centered  in  himself.  And 
the  Apostle  ascribes  to  him  the  highest  tribute  of  praise 
in  the  statement  of  Rom.  4: 17-21,  for  he  believed  God, 
who  calleth  those  things  that  be  not,  as  though  they 
were  .  .  .  against  hope  believed  in  hope  (for  God  is 
the  God  of  hope — Rom.  15:13)  .  .  .  considered  not 
the  limitations  of  nature,  because  God  was  his  quest; 
and  therefore  staggered  not  through  unbelief,  but  was 
strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God. 

But  let  us  again  be  certified  that  this  faith  leads  to 
Gethsemane  and  to  the  Cross.  Some  of  God’s  children 
are  too  tender  to  endure  the  test ;  He  is  considerate  of 
them;  but  shall  we  ask  for  the  fortitude  to  endure  as 
did  Abraham,  that  the  glow  of  God  may  be  the  only 
light  that  burns  in  our  lives  ?  Impetuous  Peter,  learn¬ 
ing  the  lesson  and  gleaming  with  light,  expounds  the 
truth,  “  That  the  trial  of  your  faith  being  much  more 
precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth  might  be  found 
unto  praise  and  honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of 
Jesus  Christ;  whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love;  in  whom, 
though  seeing  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory”  (I  Peter  1:7,  8). 
And  St.  Paul,  who  has  given  us  the  imperishable 
dictum,  “  For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ”  (Phil.  1:21), 
crystallizes  the  truth  we  are  defining  by  the  exultant 
climax  of  Romans  eight,  “  In  all  these  things  we  are 
more  than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us  ” 
(v.  37). 

We  have  our  Lord’s  challenge  to  ask  and  receive  that 
our  joy  may  be  full  (John  16:24);  we  have  the 
apostolic  assurance  that  “  all  things  ”  are  ours.  But 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


189 


we  cannot  obtain  until  we  are  emptied ;  the  measure  of 
our  surrender  determines  our  capacity  to  receive.  For 
whatever  we  retain  occupies  the  space  that  God’s  gifts 
are  designed  to  fill  (I  Cor.  3:21-23).  And  we  must 
not  fail  to  note  that  among  the  all  things,  self-dying 
has  its  place.  We  know  full  well  how  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  speak  of  and  to  practice  self-denial;  that 
means  to  cut  off  a  bit  of  selfish  enjoyment  or  posses¬ 
sion,  the  real  self  being  as  large  as  ever,  and  perhaps  a 
bit  larger  for  very  congratulation  over  the  self-denial. 
But  denial  of  self  is  the  essence  of  the  Biblical  teach¬ 
ing.  We  are  dead  (Col.  3:  3)  and  are  to  keep  reckon¬ 
ing  upon  the  accomplished  fact. 

So  long  as  the  flesh,  the  mind,  the  self,  dominate  in 
our  prayers,  we  may  ask  and  our  God  may  be  gracious 
to  us,  for  very  love’s  sake ;  for  He  gives  liberally  to  all 
men  (James  1:5).  But  in  His  deeper  love  for  us  and 
His  purpose  in  our  behalf,  He  longs  to  lead  us  into  the 
dark  recesses  of  our  Gethsemane,  that  we  may  find 
Himself  alone.  When  we  arise  from  that  agony  of 
self-dying,  and  into  the  newness  of  the  life  which  Fie 
has  ordained  for  us,  faith  will  no  longer  be  a  capricious 
and  spasmodic  mood,  but  a  clear,  steady  and  unfalter¬ 
ing  flame  of  love.  Then,  the  transfigured  life  will 
prove  its  reality  by  a  joy  which  abounds  in  every 
circumstance.  It  will  not  be  contingent  upon  what 
may  occur;  for  its  roots  are  grounded  in  God.  He 
is  the  sufficiency.  And  absorbed  in  God,  with  a  pas¬ 
sion  to  do  the  will  of  God,  we  shall  reflect  Him  in 
other  lives. 

Qualified  thus,  by  an  abandonment  to  God,  we  are 
capable  now  of  grasping  the  all-conquering  possibili¬ 
ties  of  the  promises  of  God.  We  shall  not  test  them  by 


190  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


what  we  have  obtained,  though  we  may  receive  many 
evidences  of  his  love  and  care.  His  faith  in  us  will  lie 
embedded  in  the  rock-founded  conviction  that  God  has 
spoken  and  cannot  be  untrue.  The  potencies  which  are 
awakened  by  this  confidence  are  stimulating  and  ener¬ 
gizing.  The  assurance  of  the  willingness  of  our  loving 
Father  to  bless  by  all  means,  becomes  a  fixed  spiritual 
state.  There  will  be  no  fluctuations.  In  this  realm  of 
experience,  we  may  wait  to  have  Him  write  into  our 
lives  the  sweetest  romance  of  thought  and  desire.  For 
all  things  are  possible  to  Him,  to  whom  we  have  sur¬ 
rendered  (Matt.  19:26);  and  all  things  become  pos¬ 
sible  to  us  who  yield  to  Him  for  guidance  and  keeping 
(Mark  9:23).  If  we  hesitate  to  stand  for  this;  if  we 
halt  at  the  threshold  of  experimentation  and  fear  that 
it  will  not  work,  we  are  by  that  act  betraying  that  we 
are  not  possessed  by  God’s  faith.  No  matter  whether 
the  particular  thing  we  seek  comes  to  us  or  fails  us ;  we 
are  strong  in  faith  because  we  are  irrevocably  com¬ 
mitted  to  Him.  Therefore,  we  may  be  always  on  the 
pinnacle  of  anticipation.  To-day  is  to  every  saint  thus 
conditioned,  “  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made.” 
Yesterday  may  have  been  dark  and  forbidding;  its 
close  may  have  been  marked  by  humiliating  defeat. 
To-day  is  God’s  day  for  us,  if  we  will ;  for  His  faith 
in  us  never  falters.  It  translates  every  circumstance 
into  an  occasion  for  His  intervention.  It  is  ever  buoy¬ 
ant  in  expectation  of  what  He  has  promised. 

That  the  bountiful  Giver  has  many  times  come  to 
lives  unfitted  to  receive  His  gifts,  we  must  all  acknowl- 
edge.  That  will  never  be  so  with  those  who  first  seek 
Himself  and  His  faith  for  conquest.  Many  of  us 
would  have  gone  under,  but  for  this  jubilant  attitude. 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


191 


With  arms  ever  ready  to  take,  and  hearts  ever  burning 
with  love,  we  have  learned  that  the  most  trying  times 
have  been  the  eve  before  the  day  most  longed  for. 
And  the  inspiration  which  this  life  of  expectancy 
awakens  leads  us  into  precious  paths  of  fellowship  with 
Him.  Constantly  fitted  for  His  blessings,  we  count 
upon  the  great  things  He  can  do  in  the  realm  of  the 
unseen.  Joseph  Parker,  working  to  the  limit  of  his 
hard-pressed  life,  entertained  the  confident  anticipation 
of  a  vine-clad  cottage,  where  he  might  spend  the  sun¬ 
set  of  his  days  among  his  books  and  in  the  society  of 
choice  friends.  He  was  cut  off  ere  the  dream  was  con¬ 
summated.  But  we  must  all  allow  that  he  honored 
God  by  the  hope,  and  rejoiced  in  God  as  he  looked 
forward  to  it.  May  it  not  be  thus  with  every  circum¬ 
stance?  After  all,  it  is  not  the  getting  of  the  thing, 
but  the  place  we  give  God  in  the  resting  for  it.  Be 
certified  that  no  prayer  is  lost  to  God;  no  act  of  true 
faith  misses  record  in  His  great  counting  house  above ; 
all  will  be  found  to  our  credit.  If  this  fact  grips  us, 
we  shall  not  be  amazed  over  the  loss  of  coveted  gifts. 
We  shall  rise  on  the  wings  of  victory  and  thank  Him 
for  the  wisdom  He  has  displayed  on  our  behalf  in  de¬ 
ferring  until  the  better  time.  And  I  believe  we  may 
come  to  that  place  of  rest  in  Him,  where  we  may  en¬ 
tertain  such  superlative  thoughts  of  His  love  towards 
us,  so  great  and  beneficent,  as  to  even  refrain  at  times 
from  asking.  In  such  rare  instances  it  will  be  enough 
concerning  them  that  we  shall  warm  our  hearts  with 
the  assurance  that  “  it  would  be  just  like  Him  to  do  it.” 
And  thus  with  David  we  may  delight  ourselves  in  the 
Lord  and  leave  with  Him  the  pleasure  of  giving  us  our 
(unexpressed)  desires. 


192  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


We  have  all  felt  the  humiliation  of  lost  battles ;  grief 
over  the  ashes  of  our  burned  hopes;  despair  that  op¬ 
portunities  have  passed  which  can  never  be  recalled. 
But,  the  alchemical  potency  of  the  divinely-conferred 
faith,  transmutes  all  such  into  the  pure  gold  of  God’s 
providence.  We  have  ceased,  some  of  us  at  least,  to 
tolerate  the  song  “  The  Bird  with  Broken  Pinion.” 
This  blessed  faith  enables  us  to  count  upon  His  restor¬ 
ing  to  us  past  years  (Joel  2:25)  ;  our  covenant-keeping 
Jehovah  will  give  us  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy 
for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 
heaviness  (Isa.  61 :  3).  We  shall  rest  upon  the  assur¬ 
ances  of  His  Word,  “  I  will  get  them  praise  and  fame 
in  every  land  of  their  shame  ”  (Zeph.  3 :  19)  ;  “  They 
shall  have  double  for  all  their  sins”  (Isa.  61:7). 
Though,  like  Amaziah,  we  stand  amazed  over  our 
financial  losses,  we  can  catch  again  the  stimulating 
challenge  of  the  prophet,  “  God  is  able  to  give  thee 
much  more  than  this  ”  (II  Chron.  25 :  9).  We  shall  no 
longer  cry  in  longing  for  release,  “  O  that  I  had  the 
wings  of  a  dove ;  for  then  would  I  fly  away  and  be  at 
rest”  (Psa.  55:6).  Nay.  But  stayed  as  was  Joseph 
in  his  firm  trust  in  God,  we  may  await  the  glad  day 
when  we  shall  name  our  Ephraim,  and  exultingly  cry, 
“  He  hath  made  me  fruitful  in  the  land  of  my  afflic¬ 
tion  ”  (Gen.  41 :  52). 

Yes.  This  triumphant  faith,  divinely  conferred, 
humanly  expressed,  will  carry  us  through  every  crisis. 
It  will  plant  the  deep  roots  of  hope  in  the  grave  of 
yesterday’s  failures,  disappointments  and  defeats.  It 
will  remember  the  past  only  to  rejoice  in  what  the 
present  may  effect.  There  can  be  no  hour  so  stagger¬ 
ing  that  it  may  not  bring  with  it  the  hallowed  sense 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


193 


that  God  “  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  ask  or  think”  (Eph.  3:20).  And  it  will 
grow  to  the  exalted  plane  of  rejoicing  in  the  very 
things  which  cause  weak  faith  to  faint.  “  The  joy  of 
faith  ”  will  become  an  experience  of  rich  and  lasting 
value  (Phil.  1:23).  It  will  sing  “Praise  the  Lord” 
ere  the  Lord  has  begun  His  working  (II  Chron. 
20:20-22).  Our  affliction  will  be  light  and  but  for  a 
moment  as  we  contemplate  the  immeasurable  riches  of 
our  God  (II  Cor.  4: 15,  16).  We  shall  “count  it  all 
joy”  to  fall  into  manifold  trials  (James  1:2-4).  We 
shall  sing  songs  in  the  night  (Job  35:10;  Acts  16:  25), 
because  He  gives  them.  Human  nature  cannot  do  this ; 
but  the  supernatural  life  which  we  may  live  provides 
it  and  we  respond  to  the  divinely  conferred  faith  by 
exercising  confidence  in  the  seemingly  impossible. 

I  have  endeavored  in  these  paragraphs  to  outline  the 
faith  in  this  manner,  that  I  may  arouse  the  perplexed 
and  questioning  saints  who  are  wondering  why  they 
do  not  get  victory  for  their  flesh.  Unquestionably  there 
are  many  who  have  received  but  a  superficial  concept 
of  the  dynamics  of  faith.  There  is  ever  the  tendency 
to  look  at  what  God  has  done  for  others  as  the  basis  of 
expectancy  of  what  He  may  do  for  us.  We  are  prone 
to  think  that  we  must  try  to  believe;  and  the  exercise 
of  our  endeavor  causes  friction  in  our  lives.  We  have 
touched  the  shallow  waters  of  God’s  ocean  of  love  and 
power  and  failed  to  see  that  to  get  the  draught,  we 
should  “  launch  out  into  the  deep  ”  (Luke  5:4).  We 
have  saved  our  gratitude  until  the  gift  should  come.. 
while  He  has  waited  to  behold  in  us  an  undying  joy 
for  what  He  is  to  us.  We  have  sought  companies  for 


194  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


fellowship  in  prayer  and  healing,  while  He  has  been 
calling  us  to  stillness  with  Himself. 

I  hold  no  brief  for  any  soul  merely  seeking  the  gifts 
of  God.  I  do  not  guarantee  that  if  what  I  have  indi¬ 
cated  shall  be  faithfully  experienced,  healing  must  of 
certainty  come.  But  I  do  unfalteringly  urge  that  there 
shall  be  in  the  life  this  complete  surrender  to  Him  that 
will  respond  to  all  He  wants  us  to  be.  And  I  do  de¬ 
voutly  believe  that  when  this  shall  be  true  of  us,  re¬ 
garding  the  disposition  of  our  lives  in  this  dedication 
of  our  selves,  we  shall  be  in  the  place  where  He  can 
reach  us  more  surely  and  effectively  than  in  any  other. 
For  “He  loves  to  be  sought;  He  loves  to  be  longed 
for.” 

Needless  to  say,  the  life  of  faith  will  be  one  of  deep 
concern  for  others.  Self-absorption  defeats  the  work¬ 
ings  of  faith ;  indeed  faith,  the  faith  of  God,  perishes 
when  we  think  only  of  our  own  needs.  As  we  long 
for  the  blessings  that  can  come  into  lives  pleadingly 
needing  our  sympathy  in  prayer  and  service,  we  get 
rich  in  the  things  of  God.  Though  we  may  be  laid 
aside,  the  curtains  of  our  chamber  drawn,  the  silence 
of  the  atmosphere  consonant  with  our  low  physical 
estate,  the  avenue  to  prayer  for  others  will  yet  be  open, 
our  ministry  of  sympathy  still  operative;  and  it  may 
be  that  as  with  Job,  when  we  intercede  for  our  friends, 
God  can  and  will  turn  our  captivity  (Job.  42:  10). 

Finally,  may  I  set  forth  the  crowning  incentive  for 
this  life  of  triumphant  faith?  Service  for  God?  Yes. 
Victory  for  others?  Yes.  Affording  Him  the  pleasure 
of  bestowing  His  gifts  to  well-prepared  hearts  and 
bodies?  Yes.  To  afford  the  dynamics  of  the  life- 


OUR  TRIUMPHANT  FAITH 


195 


giving  Body  of  our  Lord  to  fill  us  in  the  all-things  of 
His  preeminence?  Yes.  But  one  thing  more.  There 
are  principalities  in  the  heavenlies  intimately  concerned 
as  to  our  attitude  in  faith.  The  friendly  rejoice  in  our 
triumphs ;  the  hostile  glory  in  our  defeats.  We  deter¬ 
mine  who  shall  exult  over  us.  With  us  lies  the  deci¬ 
sion  to  magnify  our  God  to  the  humiliation  of  the 
powers  of  darkness ;  to  the  infinite  delight  of  His 
heavenly  messengers  who  regard  us  with  jealous  in¬ 
terest  (Eph.  3:10).  You,  I,  as  members  of  the 
Church  of  God  are  registered  before  these  hierarchies. 
Let  us  rise  to  the  altitude  of  responsibility,  and  cheer 
the  heart  of  our  dear  Lord  by  proving  true. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
APOLOGIA. 


Quite  thirty-five  years  ago,  I  was  requested  by  a 
member  of  the  firm,  a  very  dear  friend,  to  read,  and 
comment  upon  the  paged  proof  of  a  volume  which  the 
Messrs.  Harper  Brothers  would  immediately  publish. 
The  book  presented  certain  problems  in  the  religious 
life  which  appealed  to  the  learned  of  the  day.  It 
seemed  unique  in  its  delineation  of  the  theme,  and  af¬ 
forded  me  genuine  pleasure. 

When  Mr.  Harper  reported  to  the  author  the  opin¬ 
ion  I  had  formed,  he  requested  that  I  should  call  upon 
him.  As  I  stood  before  the  man,  I  found  myself  in  the 
presence  of  Henry  Mills  Alden,  the  world-wide  known 
editor  of  Harper’s  Magazine.  During  our  pleasant 
conversation,  I  ventured  the  interrogation,  “  Why,  Mr. 
Alden,  did  you  not  place  your  name  on  the  title-page  ?  ” 
His  modest  and  winsome  reply  was,  “  I  do  not  wish  the 
man  to  obscure  the  messaged  “  But,”  I  pleaded, 
“  there  are  times  when  in  simple  justice  to  the  message, 
the  man  should  be  known.”  “  Perhaps  so,”  was  his 
meek  rejoinder.  Later  editions  of  his  book  do  an¬ 
nounce  his  authorship. 

We  appreciate  the  delicacy  which  hides  behind  the 
V  word  it  proclaims,  and  like  faithful  John  Baptist,  con- 
f esses,  “I  am  the  voice”  (John  1:23).  We  should 
-  all  elect  that  attitude  when  we  teach  spiritual  truth. 

And  in  no  sphere  of  experience  does  one  feel  more  the 
^  need  of  humble  unobtrusiveness  than  in  that  of  the 


196 


APOLOGIA 


197 


healing  witness.  One  may  tell  his  friends,  or  venture 
to  present  his  testimony  to  an  assembled  company ;  but 
to  put  it  into  cold  type,  calls  forth  every  instinct  of 
hesitancy.  And  yet,  in  spiritual  matters,  the  person¬ 
ality  goes  far  to  enhance  the  comprehension  of  the 
message. 

I  trust  that  the  fact  of  my  having  held  this  reluctance 
all  the  forty  years  I  have  been  standing  for  this  truth 
in  the  printed  page  as  well  as  the  spoken  word,  may  be 
sufficient  evidence  to  the  critical  reader  that  I  have 
maintained  a  commendable  humility  of  mind;  and  how 
exceedingly  loth  I  am  now  to  put  before  the  general 
public  what  has  been  known  to-  but  the  limited  circle  of 
my  trusted  friends. 

That  it  could  have  and  would  have  yielded  glory  to 
our  blessed  Lord,  I  may  not  question;  but  an  in¬ 
stinctive  shrinking  from  unfolding  my  inner  life,  as  I 
am  about  to  do,  has  restrained  me.  And  I  now  make 
the  venture  by  introducing  an  incident  which  may  be 
seen  to  be  applicable.  On  one  occasion,  calling  upon 
an  invalid  friend,  bed-ridden,  I  found  her  in  a  par¬ 
oxysm  of  grief.  Distressed  for  her,  I  listened  to  her 
recital  of  the  case.  She  related  that  to  help  two  friends 
who  had  been  to  see  her,  who  she  felt  might  be  encour¬ 
aged  by  her  testimony,  she  had  given  them  a  leaf  out 
of  her  very  deepest  experience  of  God’s  leading  and 
care.  Her  chastened  life  was  full  of  such  touches. 
When  she  had  concluded,  they  gave  her  an  unrespon¬ 
sive,  blank  look,  in  which  she  discerned  cold  indiffer¬ 
ence  mingled  with  a  streak  of  sarcasm.  She  saw  she 
had  erred ;  and  since  they  had  frozen  the  springs  of  her 
being,  she  gave  vent  to  bitter  regret  that  she  had  been 
so  unwise.  As  I  heard  her  story,  slowly  and  tearfully 


198  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


detailed,  I  was  led  to  recur  to  Mary’s  outpoured  love 
which  was  so  equally  misinterpreted ;  and  I  reminded 
her  that  ere  the  ointment  could  “  fill  the  house,”  the 
cruse  had  to  he  broken  (Mark  14 :  3  ;  John  12:3).  She 
caught  the  suggestion  in  a  flash.  “  O,  I  see  it ;  and 
though  they  did  not  understand,  He  did.”  “  Yes,”  I 
replied,  “  And  we  are  not  to  be  concerned  how  others 
may  take  our  gifts  to  Him.  Our  privilege  is  to  render 
as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men.” 

Now,  inasmuch  as  I  may  never  again  deal  with  this 
healing  question,  at  least  as  fully  as  I  have  in  this 
volume,  I  reverently  venture  to  tell  my  own  tale.  And 
I  am  comforted  that  in  postponing  it,  I  shall  be  able  to 
embrace  what  was  not  possible  to  record  in  the  earlier 
years  of  my  devotion  to  this  truth.  The  Apostle  re¬ 
minds  the  Corinthians,  as  he  unbosoms  himself,  “  It  is 
for  your  sakes.”  Thus  I  plead  in  my  own  behalf. 

All  through  my  childhood  and  youth,  I  enjoyed  the 
questionable  distinction  of  being  called  “  delicate.” 
Supposedly  sympathetic  people  constantly  obtruded 
their  opinions  as  to  what  should  be  done  on  my  behalf. 
I  fancy  that  my  parents  grew  weary  of  this  voluntary 
interest.  I  soon  realized  my  deficiencies ;  and  early 
began  to  envy  boys  of  my  own  age  who  could  “  do 
things.”  I  scarcely  ever  completed  a  term  at  school ; 
some  indisposition,  brief  or  prolonged,  would  interrupt 
the  progress  of  my  studies.  And  I  confess  that  as  the 
thing  grew  on  me,  I  began  to  accommodate  myself  to 
the  inevitable  program. 

Beginning  a  business  career  when  I  had  finally  got¬ 
ten  as  far  as  I  could  in  preparatory  training,  for  any 
thought  of  college  was  utterly  out  of  the  question,  I 
had  no  grasp  of  the  future.  One  thing  I  regard  with 


APOLOGIA 


199 


gratitude — I  learned  to  know  God  in  those  hard 
years  of  distress  when  other  lads  were  living  on  the 
animal  plane.  And  as  I  realized  that  I  might  not  long 
survive  the  ordeal,  the  other  world  became  more  real 
to  me  than  could  be  expected  of  the  husky  fellows  of 
my  age. 

For  five  years  I  fought  to  hold  my  place,  hopeful  of 
something;  He  alone  could  know.  My  associates  in 
business  were  most  considerate  of  me,  in  the  enforced 
absences  which  my  ebbing  life  forces  compelled.  At 
last,  when  I  was  approaching  my  majority,  the  time 
when  the  normal  young  man  should  be  at  his  best,  I 
arrived  at  my  nadir.  Several  months  were  granted  me 
for  the  obtainment  of  a  possible  recovery.  My  phy¬ 
sician,  one  of  the  best  in  New  York  at  the  time,  grew 
more  and  more  perplexed  as  the  decline  stubbornly 
progressed.  When  he  finally  pleaded  that  he  might  be 
allowed  to  consult  other  talent,  I  objected.  I  knew 
that  his  acknowledged  ability  was  quite  equal  to  any¬ 
thing  that  any  man  could  do.  I  was  convinced  that  no 
other  could  help  me. 

At  this  juncture,  I  was  importuned  by  loving  friends 
who  were  as  dear  to  me  as  my  own  flesh  and  blood,  to 
come  to  them  in  hope  of  a  renewal  of  life.  They  were 
sure  that  the  country  air  would  do  me  good  and  my 
depleted  physical  forces  would  revive.  They  had  no 
idea  of  my  deplorable  condition;  else,  I  opine,  they 
would  have  been  slow  to  venture  the  hazardous  ex¬ 
periment.  When  I  truthfully  state  that  my  scrawny 
neck  was  roomily  encircled  by  a  collar  numbered 
eleven  and  a  half ;  that  one  might  put  a  finger  or  two 
in  the  hollows ;  that  my  eyes  were  deep-sunken  in  their 
sockets;  that  the  skin  on  my  cheek-bones  was  worn 


200  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


through ;  that  when  I  had  been  reduced  to  seventy-five 
pounds,  I  ceased  weighing  for  very  agony  of  mind; 
that  the  cold-blooded  gamins  of  the  side-walks  were 
wont  to  cry  after  me,  “  Look  at  that  walkin’  grave¬ 
yard,”  I  need  say  little  more. 

Thank  God,  He  gave  me  the  courage  to  be  around. 
I  realized  that  if  I  should  give  up,  permanent  invalid¬ 
ism  would  be  my  fate.  How  I  made  the  long  trip  of 
over  one  hundred  miles,  I  know  not;  but  I  did  it,  and 
found  myself  in  the  midst  of  loving  ministries.  Every¬ 
thing  that  could  be,  was  done  in  my  behalf.  But  for  a 
month,  I  sank  steadily  in  force  and  flesh.  The  solicit¬ 
ous  attentions,  the  untiring  sympathy  could  not  check 
the  downward  course.  And  these  devoted  souls  saw 
me  withering  day  by  day,  painfully  conscious  of  the 
peril  of  my  state.  In  their  ignorance  of  my  real  con¬ 
dition,  they  constantly  pleaded  that  I  should  eat.  The 
very  suggestion  appalled  me.  I  had  gone  through  all 
that  phase  of  experimentation  with  my  doctor,  who 
sought  by  every  known  means  to  make  food  acceptable 
and  assimilative.  I  knew  that  the  pleading  possibili¬ 
ties  expressed  by  these  hearty  farm  folk  was  utterly 
beyond  my  capacity.  But  God  was  left  me ;  and  I 
threw  myself  upon  Him.  My  mind  was  clear;  my 
heart  was  right  with  Him,  so  far  as  I  could  know.  So 
I  held  on  with  hope  that  He  would  do  the  work  for 
me ;  how  and  when,  I  could  not  anticipate. 

On  Sunday,  the  first  day  of  March,  1874,  I  sat  in 
that  old  stone  farm  house,  alone  with  Him.  The  fam¬ 
ily  had  gone  to  the  afternoon  service.  I  had  become 
so  ashamed  of  my  appearance  that  I  refused  to  be  seen 
outside  the  house,  save  when  taken  for  a  drive.  The 
atmosphere  was  chilly,  the  sky  overcast,  fitly  cor- 


APOLOGIA  201 

responding  with  the  clouds  which  were  hanging  over 
my  life. 

I  was  not  particularly  conscious  of  the  presence  of 
the  Lord ;  nor  yet  that  I  was  on  the  eve  of  a  conquest ; 
but  I  was,  I  know,  in  close  appeal  for  that  which  He 
alone  could  do  for  me.  All  at  once,  there  swept  over 
me  a  wave  of  victorious  faith  that  on  the  following 
morning,  I  should  eat  a  really  normal  breakfast.  So- 
fixed  was  this  conviction,  that  I  did  not  for  a  moment 
falter,  nor  environ  myself  with  cautious  limitations. 
I  retired  that  night  jubilant  in  the  prospect  of  what 
the  day  to  come  should  bring. 

As  I  approached  the  breakfast  table,  I  declined  the 
meager  dish  of  cereal,  which  had  been  my  portion,  and 
announced  to  the  family  that  I  should  accept  their  fare. 
In  those  days,  the  diet  of  farmers  was  such  as  might 
call  for  modification  now.  I  was  hilarious  in  the  pros¬ 
pect  of  hot  meat,  potatoes,  buckwheat  cakes  with  plenty 
of  good  butter  and  molasses,  crowned  by  a  steaming 
cup  of  coffee.  I  was  at  an  advantage  in  being  away 
from  home ;  for  my  own  family  would  have  been  terri¬ 
fied  by  my  evident  rashness.  These  loving  friends,  on 
the  contrary,  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  experiment 
with  real  zest.  It  did  their  dear  hearts  good  to  see  me 
fulfil  their  prophecy  that  if  I  should  “  eat  one  square 
meal  ”  I  should  get  well. 

Going  out  for  a  morning  drive,  I  returned  from  a 
neighboring  city  with  a  chum  who  conducted  a  little 
country  grocery.  Spying  upon  his  loaded  wagon  a  box 
of  lemon  biscuit,  I  suggested  a  lunch,  to  which  he  gave 
cordial  assent.  Reaching  the  farm  house  at  noon,  I 
played  my  part  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  entire 
family.  I  ate  all  they  put  upon  my  plate;  and  it  was 


202  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


not  sparing,  we  may  be  sure.  I  am  venturesome 
enough  to  believe  that  the  meal  closed  with  the  ever¬ 
present  mince  pie  of  those  days.  That  afternoon,  I 
walked  down  to  my  friend’s  store  and  enjoyed  a  treat 
of  crackers  and  cheese.  That  evening,  I  sat  at  the 
farmer’s  supper  table  to  partake  of  what  they  should 
offer  me,  such  as  cold  meat,  warmed-up  potatoes, 
wholesome  home-made  bread,  cake  and  preserves. 
Sleeping  that  night  with  perfect  restfulness,  I  arose  to 
prepare  for  another  day  of  triumph.  This  regimen  of 
five  meals  I  continued  for  about  a  week,  when,  though 
I  did  not  feel  the  need  to  cut  down,  I  reasoned  that  I 
should  be  satisfied  with  the  conventional  hours  for 
eating. 

As  I  recall  that  time,  I  am  minded  to  wonder  if  ever 
there  was  just  such  a  marvelous  healing  as  mine.  If  I 
am  permitted  to  talk  with  the  recording  angel  (if  such 
there  be)  I  shall  want  to  ask  him  about  it.  My  heart 
overflows  as  I  recite  the  story. 

A  rapid  convalescence  followed;  and  by  the  first  of 
May  I  presented  myself  at  the  place  of  business  from 
which  I  had  been  absent  for  three  months.  The  senior 
member  of  the  firm  had,  in  the  interim,  purchased  a 
large  farm  in  New  Jersey;  and  he  urged  that  I  should 
go  there  for  at  least  a  year  and  be,  as  he  put  it,  “  philo¬ 
sophically  lazy.”  There  were  things  I  could  do ;  keep¬ 
ing  the  books,  raising  chickens  and  running  the  tiny 
grocery  which  was  the  only  source  of  supply  for  the 
several  scores  of  workmen.  As  the  weeks  went  by  my 
weight  increased  until  at  the  end  of  five  months  from 
that  eventful  March  day,  I  balanced  the  scales  at  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds.  My  face  had  become 
as  round  as  an  apple.  There  was  no  cessation  of 


APOLOGIA 


203 


the  ability  to  consume  enormous  quantities  of  food; 
and  I  had  strength  commensurate  with  increased 
avoirdupois. 

During  that  year,  a  revival  started  in  the  community, 
and  I  learned  my  first  lessons  in  evangelism.  Little  by 
little  the  urge  came  upon  me  that  I  must  give  myself  to 
God  for  whatever  service  He  might  be  preparing  for 
me.  Just  what  it  should  be  I  could  not  for  a  moment 
anticipate.  But  the  dove-tailing  of  His  purposes  be¬ 
came  clear  as  the  time  went  on.  My  illness  had  worked 
in  my  father  a  remarkable  change.  I  was  to  him  “  the 
apple  of  an  eye,”  his  only  son  and  close  companion. 
God  used  his  grief  over  me  for  His  own  blessed  end. 
He  had  been  a  nominal  church-member,  had  drifted 
away  until  at  the  time,  he  was  an  agnostic.  One  Sun¬ 
day  evening,  during  my  memorable  absence,  seeing  the 
announcement  of  a  preaching  service  at  the  large  hall 
of  the  Cooper  Union,  conducted  by  an  Episcopal  min¬ 
ister,  whom  he  had  previously  met  at  a  funeral,  he  was 
led  to  enter.  That  night,  he  was  roundly,  soundly  and 
permanently  converted  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It 
was  just  at  this  point  in  his  life  that  I  was  healed,  as 
I  have  described. 

When,  therefore,  he  came  to  visit  me  in  my  New 
Jersey  home,  January  1st,  1875,  I  opened  my  heart  to 
him  as  to  the  longing  to  find  some  Christian  work 
where  I  might  testify  to  my  gratitude  to  our  good 
Lord.  He  was  so  overjoyed,  that,  fearing  he  might 
precipitate  the  step,  he  begged  me  to  unite  with  him  in 
another  month  of  prayer  that  fullest  guidance  might 
be  obtained.  At  the  end  of  the  appointed  time,  I  was 
as  firmly  persuaded  of  the  call.  He  accordingly  ar¬ 
ranged  for  an  interview  with  his  friend  and  rector  (for 


204  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


he  had  become  a  Churchman,  as  was  quite  consistent). 
This  good  man  at  once  took  me  into  his  heart  and  life ; 
and  as  he  was  able  to  place  me  where  my  own  church 
could  not,  and  where  I  felt  I  was  called  to  labor,  I 
entered  into  fellowship  with  him  on  May  3rd,  1875. 

One  confession  I  must  make  in  this  connection. 
Though  I  had  received  such  a  wonderful  evidence  of 
our  Lord’s  supernatural  power  in  my  body,  I  was  led 
to  think  that  I  should  be  permitted  to  give  my  life  to 
Him  for  but  a  few  short  years.  Hence,  I  labored  with 
a  zeal  which  one  in  such  a  condition  of  mind  would  be 
expected  to  display.  The  days  were  strenuous.  Not 
infrequently  they  were  sixteen  hours  long,  mingled 
with  missionary  endeavor  of  all  kinds,  and  hard  study. 
The  field  which  was  assigned  me  in  the  Stanton  Street 
Mission  is  now  considered  to  be  the  most  densely 
packed  district  in  any  city  of  the  world;  and  it  was 
almost  so  then. 

After  three  years  in  the  mission,  my  friend  sent  for 
me  to  be  his  private  secretary.  Established  in  his  im¬ 
mediate  association,  he  arranged  for  special  tuition, 
that  I  might  be  prepared  for  the  ministry.  For  by  this 
time  I  had  joined  my  father  and  sister  in  becoming  a 
communicant  of  his  parish.  This  prospect  had  not 
been  in  my  forecast.  While  I  had  been  in  the  down¬ 
town  work,  I  recognized  the  return  of  the  old  depres¬ 
sion  and  experienced  in  some  measure  the  reducing  of 
flesh  and  vital  force.  But  with  this  new  vision  of 
service,  I  yielded  to1  the  leading  and  gave  myself  to 
increased  application  to  study  under  the  direction  of 
a  masterly  scholar  who  pushed  me  on.  I  passed  my 
examinations  at  the  General  Theological  Seminary, 
though  not  matriculating  as  a  student.  My  advance- 


APOLOGIA 


205 


ment  to  the  higher  order  of  the  ministry  of  the  Epis¬ 
copal  Church  occurred  two  years  after  my  ordination 
to  the  diaconate,  the  examinations  for  the  same  being 
also  at  the  Seminary. 

Being  the  assistant  minister  of  one  of  the  largest 
metropolitan  churches,  I  experienced  severe  tests,  es¬ 
pecially  as  the  event  of  which  I  am  to  speak  will  show, 
and  which  happened  while  I  was  completing  my  studies 
for  the  above  final  examinations.  What  may  have 
been  the  direct  cause  was  not  surely  known ;  the  in¬ 
ference  was  that  the  seemingly  fatal  attack  of  malarial 
fever  which  laid  me  low  in  the  summer  of  1882,  had 
come  from  infection  of  sewer-gas,  to  which  I  had  con¬ 
fessedly  been  exposed  during  the  previous  winter  and 
spring.  The  severity  of  this  visitation  may  be  esti¬ 
mated  as  I  record  the  crisis,  when  one  of  the  most 
eminent  specialists  in  the  city  was  called  in  consulta¬ 
tion.  This  man,  as  I  after  learned,  gave  no  hope; 
he  offered  no  suggestion  of  treatment;  he  declared 
that  every  organ  in  my  body  was  affected.  I  was 
unable  to  retain  even  the  specific  employed  for  nausea 
in  St.  Luke’s  Hospital. 

The  young  people  of  the  parish,  learning  of  this 
decision,  devoted  the  evening  of  the  next  day  (Sunday) 
to  intercession  in  my  behalf.  On  Monday  morning,  I 
was  able  to  take  milk  and  lime  water ;  later  in  the  day, 
clam  broth ;  in  three  days,  I  ate  solid  food ;  in  a  little 
more  than  three  weeks  from  that  fateful  Saturday,  I 
was  taken  aboard  a  steamer  bound  for  Newfoundland, 
in  care  of  a  nurse.  In  the  eighteen  days  of  the  round 
trip  I  gained  fifteen  pounds  in  weight  and  increased 
commensurately  in  strength,  leaving  the  vessel  with  a 
firm  tread  and  carrying  two  hand-bags. 


206  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


This  brief  recital  brings  me  to  the  vital  point  in  my 
history  to  which  the  writing  of  this  book  is  essentially 
related.  The  healing  movement,  as  I  have  indicated, 
was  widening  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Cullis,  and 
questions  were  rife  as  to  the  consistency  of  the  position 
which  the  spiritual  Christian  should  take  in  the  matter. 
I  confess  that  with  all  the  Lord  had  done  for  me,  I  was 
not  stirred  to  decision.  Up  to  this  period,  while  I  was 
sure  of  my  own  healing  in  both  of  the  instances  I  have 
described,  there  was  a  hesitancy  to  lead  others  to  com¬ 
mit  themselves  to  God  as  I  had.  I  did  not  see  healing 
in  the  Word  of  God,  as  indeed  many  do  not  now.  And 
to  preach  or  teach  it  involved  personal  ostracism. 

But  God  had  His  plan  for  me  in  this,  as  He  had  in 
other  leadings.  On  February  3rd,  1883,  I  was  the 
guest  at  dinner  of  a  saintly  woman,  a  communicant  of 
the  Church,  and  actively  concerned  for  the  usefulness 
of  the  parish  in  which  I  was  serving.  When  she 
opened  to  me  the  challenge  of  divine  healing,  the  whole 
panorama  of  my  life  spread  before  me.  If  ever  God 
had  dealt  with  man,  He  had  with  me ;  and  on  my  knees 
beside  that  godly  woman,  I  was  possessed  of  St. 
Peter’s  mind,  as  he  protested  to  his  Christian  brethren 
(Acts  11:17)  “What  was  I  that  I  could  withstand 
God  ?  ”  And  I  yielded  myself  to  Him  for  all  that  He 
might  wish  to  do  with  me  in  this  field  of  truth. 

A  few  weeks  later,  at  her  table,  I  first  met  Dr. 
Simpson.  He  invited  me  to  attend  his  Friday  after¬ 
noon  meeting  for  healing,  then  being  held  in  the  Grand 
Opera  House.  That  was  the  beginning  of  a  loving 
fellowship  which  lasted  until  the  end  of  his  wonderful 
life.  But  I  cannot  picture  myself  as  my  first  year  of 
triumph  had  made  me.  The  flesh  had  gone  in  large 


APOLOGIA 


207 


measure ;  the  features  were  wan  and  the  frame  fragile. 
People  were  wont  to  say,  “  He  has  a  clear  grasp  of  the 
truth,  but  he  has  little  to  show.”  The  rector  under 
whom  I  was  then  serving  as  assistant,  learning  of  my 
embracing  healing,  humorously  remarked,  “If  any  one 
needs  it,  Mac’  does.”  It  was  all  too  true.  Frequent 
spells  of  melancholia  invaded  my  life;  activity  was  my 
only  recourse.  People  blamed  me  for  working  too 
hard.  But  I  knew  myself  better  than  they  could. 
Many,  many  times  in  the  long  years  which  followed 
my  acceptance  of  the  Lord  as  my  Healer,  I  could 
have  breathed  Elijah’s  prayer,  “  Lord,  it  is  enough ; 
take  away  my  life”  (I  Kings  19:4).  But  He  denied 
me,  as  I  now  see,  for  reasons  which  cause  my  heart  to 
rejoice.  In  the  face  of  the  attacks  which  came  upon 
me,  I  was  pressed  to  make  ventures  of  faith  which 
would  have  appalled  even  strong  believers.  But  there 
seemed  no  alternative. 

Finally,  after  I  had  left  the  New  York  parish,  com¬ 
pleting  thirteen  years  of  arduous  labor,  serving  three 
years  as  rector  of  St.  Thomas’  Church,  New  Windsor, 
N.  Y.,  and  being  four  years  in  my  present  incumbency, 
the  break  came.  Through  the  years  of  1895,  ’96  and 
’97,  I  was  under  the  blight  of  nervous  prostration, 
rising  at  times  to  the  call  to  service,  downed  again  for 
a  long  period  of  rest.  At  last,  in  1897,  after  months 
of  incapacity,  during  which  time  my  people  displayed 
wonderful  patience  and  hope  in  my  behalf,  I  crossed 
another  stream.  There  came  to  Westport,  in  the  win¬ 
ter  of  1897  and  ’98,  a  band  of  Salvation  Army  men, 
picked  fellows  of  the  highest  type  of  consecration. 
To  them  I  opened  my  heart,  and  they  lovingly  took  me 
into  theirs.  Their  fervent  prayers  rang  a  chime  of 


208  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


hope  in  my  soul ;  and  I  took  faith  to  assume  the  pulpit 
ministries  of  the  parish,  though  the  vestry  at  the  time 
was  endeavoring  to  secure  me  a  permanent  assistant. 
As  I  made  this  advance,  few  in  the  congregation  be¬ 
lieved  in  the  probability  of  continuance;  the  desperate 
fainting  spells  which  had  been  the  bane  of  my  life  and 
the  scourge  of  their  peace,  were  constantly  anticipated 
by  their  solicitous  minds.  But  God  held  me. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era.  Not  only  did 
I  maintain  the  parish  activities ;  but  extra-parochial 
engagements  enlarged.  I  was  constantly  invited  to 
hold  missions,  speak  at  conventions  and  to  increase 
the  Bible  work  which  I  had  inaugurated.  The  Lord 
gave  me  in  this  period  the  leading  to  write  Divine  Life 
for  the  Body ,  Anti-Christian  Supernaturalism ,  and  Re¬ 
demption.  I  am  certified  that  the  trials  through  which 
I  had  passed  were  utilized  by  Him  in  the  preparation 
of  these  books.  New  visions  and  convictions  had 
possessed  me.  The  truths  as  expressed  in  these  vol¬ 
umes  were  born  of  the  anguish  which  intinctured  those 
testing  days. 

But  in  1909,  I  was  again  brought  low.  This  time, 
completely  incapacitated,  after  recovering  and  falling 
back,  time  and  again,  I  arrived  at  another  turning 
point.  Had  I  been  alone  in  the  world,  with  no  one 
dependent  upon  me,  I  should  have  been  quite  settled 
in  waiting  upon  the  Lord  with  implicit  faith  in  His 
ultimate  destiny  for  me,  whether  for  life  or  death. 
But  I  had  a  parish  on  my  hands,  dear  kindly  friends 
who  loved  me  and  longed  to  do  anything  in  their 
power.  They  were  desperately  anxious,  as  they  should 
well  be,  that  something  might  be  done  to  reach  and 
help  me.  I  had  a  large  family  of  children  and  a 


APOLOGIA 


209 


devoted  wife,  in  whose  face  the  lines  of  care  on  my 
account  had  long  been  accentuating.  I  was  therefore 
led  to  ask  special  direction  of  the  Lord  as  to  His  mind 
in  the  emergency. 

Most  clearly,  in  April,  1910,  did  I  receive  the  inner 
conviction,  reinforced  by  circumstantial  provisions, 
that  I  should  consult  a  surgeon.  This  had  never  been 
thought  of  since  the  early  days,  when  the  New  York 
physician  had  declared  that  it  would  cost  me  my  life. 
The  operation  which  I  felt  was  most  necessary,  the 
surgeon  refused  to  perform ;  but  he  suggested  another. 
Perhaps  he  was  right ;  I  do  not  know ;  God  does.  He 
was  sure  that  his  plan  would  result  in  gratifying  re¬ 
lief.  I  should  interject  just  here  an  interview  which 
occurred  the  day  before  I  left  home  for  the  hospital. 
A  physician  who  had  married  into  our  family  came 
with  his  wife  to  be  with  the  home-circle  in  my  absence. 
There  seemed  every  reason  why  I  should  detail  to  him 
the  particulars  of  my  case.  I  had  never  before  thought 
of  doing  so.  When  I  had  concluded  my  recital,  he 
exclaimed,  “  Why,  Man !  There  is  only  one  place  for 
a  person  who  has  passed  through  what  you  have:  im¬ 
becility,  the  mad-house  or  the  grave.  I  marvel  that 
you  have  kept  your  mind.”  To  this  I  could  agree  with 
all  my  heart. 

The  operation  was  a  success  from  a  professional 
point  of  view ;  and  I  was  assured  that  I  should  have 
such  health  as  I  had  never  known.  But  within  four 
days,  the  symptoms  returned ;  the  surgeon  was  per¬ 
plexed;  and  after  four  months  of  kindled  hopes  and 
crushing  disappointments,  I  was  thrown  back  upon  the 
old  ground.  At  this  juncture,  I  was  importuned  by  an 
interested  friend  to  try  the  chiropractic  treatment.  I 


210  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


had  not  the  courage  to  decline.  The  situation  was 
desperate.  After  all  that  has  been  experienced,  I  am 
not  sorry  that  I  yielded,  for  I  learned  a  deal  that  has 
been  of  benefit  to  me  in  my  ministry  to  others;  but 
that,  too,  failed.  The  practitioner  was  certain  that  he 
could  reach  and  remove  the  cause  of  suffering.  But 
by  a  singular  twist,  which  I  did  not  ask  him  to  explain, 
and  which  I  was  at  a  loss  to  understand,  I  was  sud¬ 
denly  seized  with  an  alarming  attack  of  exhaustion,  and 
did  not  return  to  him.  This  situation  compelled  the 
engaging  of  an  assistant  for  the  parish  work  that  I 
might  take  six  months  more  to  build  up. 

A  professional  decision  at  this  time  worked  a  deep¬ 
ening  effect  upon  my  faith.  A  medical  friend  in  Ohio, 
to  whom  I  had  not  yet  been  led  to  disclose  my  con¬ 
dition,  wrote  me  in  response  to  the  inquiry  I  made  of 
him,  that  my  infirmity  had  been  born  with  me.  He  so 
exactly  defined  my  childhood  experiences,  that  I  knew 
he  had  given  the  real  gist  of  my  hard  fight  for  life. 
Then  I  saw  how  futile  had  been  all  the  efforts,  ex¬ 
ternally,  which  were  made  in  my  behalf.  Good  must 
have  in  some  measure  come  from  them.  I  leave 
that  with  our  Lord.  But  that  my  trouble  was  con¬ 
genital,  made  my  heart  rejoice.  For  I  knew  I  was 
beyond  the  help  of  man;  and  only  God  could  deliver. 
I  do  not  now  regret  all  the  experimentation.  It  taught 
me  many  valuable  lessons.  But  as  I  realized  the  essen¬ 
tial  features  of  my  case,  my  faith  in  spiritual  healing 
rose  to  higher  planes  of  possible  conquest.  And  I 
gratefully  register  my  conviction  that  I  am  the  better 
qualified  to  sympathize  with,  and  to  counsel,  those  who 
may  be  required  to  travel  along  my  pathway.  The 
much  I  have  learned  of  dietetics,  hygiene  and  physical 


APOLOGIA 


211 


regimen  has  in  a  large  degree  been  most  serviceable  to 
me  also.  But  I  came  to  see  that  I  must  have  more 
than  any  or  all  of  these  things  could  contribute. 

Little  by  little,  during  these  quite  twelve  years,  our 
dear  Lord  has  given  me  access  into  fresh  territory. 
The  new  sensation  of  being  weary,  but  not  exhausted 
is  like  a  re-birth.  The  dark  clouds  of  melancholia, 
which  at  times  challenged  me  to  commit  the  suicide’s 
crime,  are  a  part  of  the  unhappy  past.  I  am  blessed 
with  an  elasticity,  a  poise  and  endurance  such  as  I 
rarely  have  experienced.  I  am  facing  an  annual  pro¬ 
gram,  which  instead  of  staggering  me,  is  a  joy  to  con¬ 
template.  Sunday,  the  day  in  former  years  always 
sombered  by  a  nervous  dread,  though  as  full  of  re¬ 
sponsibilities  as  ever,  is  now  indeed  to  me  “  The  day 
which  the  Lord  hath  made,”  and  in  which  I  may  “  be 
glad  and  rejoice.”  The  joy  of  living  is  beyond  the 
fondest  dreams  of  those  trying  times,  when  in  truth 
I  did  “  hope  against  hope.” 

As  the  past  crystallizes  in  the  contemplation  of  all  that 
I  have  suffered,  I  can  see  that  our  good  Lord  permitted 
the  thorn  which  brought  me  into  the  world  handicapped 
and  sentenced  to  years  of  exasperating  weakness  and 
humiliation.  I  can  behold  the  long-drawn  history  in 
the  light  of  His  patient  waiting  until  He  could  bring 
me  into  complete  conquest.  I  reverently  comprehend 
that  He  was  rejoicing  in  the  future  He  had  planned 
for  me,  though  I  was  blind  to  the  vision. 

In  those  past  days  of  pallor,  when  I  was  constantly 
made  conscious  of  my  facial  conspicuousness,  I  made 
bold  to  ask  the  Lord  to  give  me  flesh  and  color.  Some 
months  ago,  I  was  visiting  one  of  our  daughters.  At 
the  table  were  guests  whom  I  had  not  met  before.  In- 


212  OUR  PHYSICAL  HERITAGE  IN  CHRIST 


cidentally,  as  I  seemed  to  be  the  topic  of  conversation, 
the  question  was  asked,  “  How  many  children  have 
you  ?  ”  When  I  had  reported  that  the  Lord  had  given 
us  seven,  all  of  whom  are  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
immediately  one  person  remarked,  “  And  such  a  com¬ 
plexion  !  ”  I  am  sure  that  this  must  have  seemed  ir¬ 
relevant  to  the  others,  but  it  rang  “  the  joy-bells  ”  in 
my  soul.  For  there  broke  upon  me  for  the  first  time 
the  consciousness  that  the  Lord  had  actually  answered 
my  prayer.  Since  then  I  have  sung  many  songs  of 
thankfulness  in  this  respect.  For  I  can  myself  see  the 
change  in  my  countenance.  Unspeakably  grateful  am 
I  when  I  meet  old-time  friends,  and  they  observe, 
“  How  well  you  look  !  ” 

Several  years  ago,  I  was  required  to  submit  to  a 
physical  examination.  At  first,  I  was  bothered  about 
it;  but  as  there  was  no  alternative,  I  took  the  faith  of 
the  Lord  for  that.  The  examining  physician  was  not 
well-known  to  me,  so  his  testimony  would  not  be  biased 
by  a  personal  inclination  towards  a  favorable  report. 
After  he  had  said  a  number  of  complimentary  things 
regarding  my  physical  estate,  he  wrote  a  gilt-edged 
certificate,  adding  with  unfeigned  satisfaction,  “  You 
have  the  blood-pressure  of  a  man  of  forty.” 

Until  now,  having  passed  my  three-score  years  and 
ten,  I  am  blessed ;  no  longer  wondering  as  the  coming 
year  opens,  if  I  shall  be  spared  until  its  close,  but 
exulting  in  the  “  much  more  land  to  be  possessed.” 
Devoutly  taking  a  last  retrospect,  I  lift  my  eyes  and 
heart  to  heaven,  and  truthfully  declare  to  our  ever- 
faithful  God  and  Father,  “  Thou  hast  kept  the  good 
wine  until  now  ”  (John  2:  10). 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Abandonment  to  God,  189. 
Abbott,  Dr.  H.  P.  A.,  86,  120. 
Abel,  158. 

Abraham,  centered  in  God,  188. 
Abraham,  the  Friend  of  God, 
187. 

Abraham,  God’s  blood-covenant 
with,  188. 

Acids  and  alkalies,  144. 

Adam,  the  first  man,  148,  159. 
Alden,  Henry  Mills,  196. 
Amaziah,  192. 

Andreas,  Karl,  18. 

Angels,  75,  100,  150,  169,  170. 
Anglican  Church,  49,  54,  59. 
Anthropos,  man  so  named  by 
the  Greeks,  138. 

Arabs,  164. 

Arnold,  Edwin,  153. 

Ascent  of  Man ,  138. 

Atonement,  healing  in  the, 
88-93. 

Baal  worship,  41. 

Baxter,  Mrs.,  18. 

Benjamin,  Mrs.  E.  Bedell,  134. 
Bible,  increase  in  study  of,  12. 
Bible ,  The  and  the  Body,  74,  92. 
Bibleotheca  Sacra,  13. 

Bingham,  the  Rev.  R.  V.,  25, 
74,  92. 

Bitter  waters  made  sweet,  130. 
Blood-Covenant,  the,  163-165. 
Blood-Covenant,  The,  165. 
Blood,  God’s  own  life  in  it,  159. 
Blumhardt,  Pastor,  18. 
Boardman,  Dr.,  18. 

Bond,  the  forfeited,  170. 
Bosworth,  Rev.  F.  F.,  57,  59. 
Bottome,  Mrs.  Margaret,  14. 
Breathing,  183. 


Brent,  Bishop  Charles  H.,  90. 

Bruce,  Prof.  A.  B.,  89. 

Buddha,  172. 

Buddhism,  102,  157. 

Cain,  sin  of,  158. 

Calvary  (the  Cross),  41,  157, 
170,  184,  188. 

Caruso,  Enrico,  81. 

Christian  and  Missionary  Al¬ 
liance,  27,  50,  57. 

Christianity,  152. 

Christianity,  a  faith,  139,  157, 
175. 

Christianity,  founded  upon  the 
person  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  153. 

Christianity,  essence  of,  a  pas¬ 
sion  for  Christ,  175. 

Christian  Faith,  the,  threatened 
with  collapse,  152,  156,  175. 

Christian  Science,  33,  52,  101, 

102,  111. 

Christian  Scientists,  33,  36,  87, 

111. 

Christian  Science  Hymnal,  112. 

Christ-Principle,  the  (so- 
called),  102,  156. 

Church,  The,  47,  78,  79,  111, 
161. 

Church  of  England,  57. 

Church  Congress,  The,  65. 

Churchman,  The,  86,  114,  115, 
116,  118,  120. 

Coffee  and  tea,  133. 

Commission  to  investigate  heal¬ 
ing,  114-118. 

Cooke,  Mrs.  Bella,  75. 

Confucius,  172. 

Convention,  General,  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  50,  111. 


213 


214 


TOPICAL  INDEX 


Cosmic  life,  73. 

Coue,  Dr.  Emile,  86,  118-125. 
Crafts,  Hiram,  33. 

Crisis,  What  shall  be  done  in? 
126. 

Crosby,  Mrs.  Fanny,  75. 
Crowd-psychology,  88. 
Crystal-gazing,  53. 

Cullis,  Dr.  Charles,  18,  27,  47, 
49,  69. 

David,  191. 

Davis,  Mr.,  74,  75. 

Delphian  Sorceress,  103. 
Demons,  150,  168. 

Dietetics,  133. 

Digestion  and  assimilation,  142. 
Disappointment  leading  to  de¬ 
spair,  85,  86-88. 

Discerning  the  Lord's  Body,  57. 
Divine  Antidote  to  Sin,  Sick¬ 
ness  and  Death,  89. 

Divine  Healing,  72. 

Divine  life  for  the  body,  73. 
Dodge,  Wm.  E.,  108. 

Does  Christ  Still  Heal ?  55. 
Dowie,  John  Alex.,  20,  26,  27, 
47. 

Dresser,  Horatio  W.,  30,  31,  38. 
Dresser,  Julius  A.,  31,  32. 
Drummond,  Henry,  138. 

Duff,  Edward  Macomb,  118. 

Ear,  the,  141. 

Eating,  183. 

Eddy,  Mrs.  Mary  Baker,  22, 
31-37,  102,  104. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  11. 
Epaphroditus,  97,  98. 

Episcopal  Church,  12,  49,  50, 
54,  57,  118. 

Evil,  forces  of,  99-101,  168. 
Extreme  unction,  81. 

Eye,  the  light  of  the  body,  149, 
150. 

Eyes,  the,  140. 

Ezra,  128. 

Faith,  82. 


Faith,  a  faculty  of  the  affec¬ 
tion,  185. 

Faith,  the  foundation  of,  186, 
187 

Faith,  the  gift  of  God,  182,  183. 

Faith,  the  life  of,  194. 

Faith,  the,  once  for  all  deliv¬ 
ered,  72,  158,  159. 

Faith,  true,  unmoved  by  seem¬ 
ing  denials,  186. 

Finney,  Chas.  G.,  11. 

Flesh,  the,  associated  with  God, 
138-140. 

Flesh,  its  quality  for  suffering, 
143. 

Food,  value  of,  136-137. 

Four-fold  Gospel,  The,  27,  48, 
49. 

Fussiness  in  eating,  135. 

Future  life,  the,  44,  112. 

Gethsemane,  184,  185,  188,  189. 

God,  called  Mind,  35. 

God,  called  Principle,  35. 

God,  called  Universal  Energy, 
38,  40. 

God,  children  of,  40,  41. 

God,  the  dread  of  Him,  171. 

God,  the  grace  of,  42. 

God,  involved  in  the  life  of 
every  sacrifice,  158. 

God,  reserves  to  Himself  the 
prerogative  to  reveal  His 
Son,  161,  180. 

God,  said  to  be  impersonal,  41- 

46. 

God,  His  romance  in  every  be¬ 
liever’s  life,  190. 

Gordon,  Dr.  A.  J.,  11,  92. 

Gospel  Tabernacle,  The,  48,  84. 

“Grace”  at  meals,  136. 

Grecian  gnosticism,  40. 

Greek  definition  of  man,  138. 

Hallel,  the  great,  184. 

Hands,  the,  140. 

Hand-shake,  the,  165. 

Harmonious  life,  the,  73. 


TOPICAL  INDEX 


215 


Harnack,  Dr.,  89. 

Harper  Brothers,  196. 

Havergal,  Frances  Ridley,  14. 
Healing,  in  attestation  of  our 
Lord’s  Deity,  77. 

Healing,  to  confirm  the  fact  of 
our  Lord’s  resurrection,  78. 
Healing,  postponed,  83-85. 
Healings,  scientifically  tested, 
114-118. 

Healing  meetings,  Why  have? 

88. 

Heart,  the,  142. 

Heavenlies,  the,  171,  195. 
Hezekiah  and  his  boil,  130. 
Hickson,  James  M.,  54,  59-66, 
79,  81,  86,  90,  114,  127,  131. 
Hindoo,  40,  112. 

Holiness  Movement,  the,  14. 
Holy  Communion,  the,  related 
to  the  physical  life,  56-59, 

176. 

Holy  Spirit,  the,  Author  of  the 
Word  of  God,  176-178. 
Holy  Spirit,  illumination  by, 

177,  178-181. 

Holy  Spirit,  necessity  for  His 
advent,  177,  178-181. 

Holy  Spirit,  personality  of,  13, 
66,  121,  125,  127,  153. 
Hostile  spiritual  powers,  99- 
107,  194,  195. 

House,  Dr.  E.  L.,  66-70,  119, 
124,  125. 

Human  body,  the,  138-151. 
Hygiene,  133. 

Hypnotism,  53,  121. 

Incarnation,  the,  166,  180,  181. 
Incurables,  the,  63. 

Independent,  The,  (editor 
quoted),  155. 

India,  107,  111. 

Indianising  of  America,  111. 
Intervale,  N.  H.,  19. 
International  Review  of  Mis¬ 
sions,  114. 

International  S.  S.  Lessons,  14. 

Invalidism,  infatuation  in,  76. 


Islamic  Review,  155. 

Israelites,  the,  137. 

Jackson,  Dr.  James  H.,  89. 
James,  St.,  165. 

Jehovah,  42,  163. 

Jehu,  165. 

Jesus  our  Lord : 

His  baptism,  183. 

His  surrender  to  the  Holy 
Spirit,  184. 

His  Deity,  the  pre-existent 
Jehovah,  77,  106,  166,  171, 
173,  183. 

His  emptying  Himself,  110, 
183. 

His  Father’s  commendation, 

101. 

His  human  body  prepared, 

159. 

His  human  body  not  corrupt, 

160. 

His  identification  with  sin¬ 
ners,  161,  171. 

His  incarnation,  166,  181,  183. 
His  life  of  faith,  182-185. 
His  passion  for  the  will  of 
God,  76,  101,  184,  185. 

His  personality  thought  not 
necessary,  152. 

His  pre-eminence  assured, 
114,  162,  172,  186. 

His  resurrection  life  for  His 
own,  73,  74. 

His  sinlessness,  160,  161. 

His  sovereignty  over  all 
flesh,  162,  166,  167,  169. 
Our  Blood-Brother,  167-173. 
Can  be  known  only  through 
the  Holy  Spirit,  161,  181, 
182. 

Did  not  drink  of  the  cup  in 
the  garden,  184. 

Head  of  the  Church,  172. 
Light  of  the  world,  162. 

The  Logos,  163. 

The  Lord  from  heaven,  148. 
The  manna  and  the  rock,  166, 
The  Redeemer,  157,  161, 


216 


TOPICAL  INDEX 


Recognised  by  demons,  166, 
168. 

The  Son  of  David,  161. 

The  Son  of  God,  66,  102,  105, 
114,  148,  161,  172. 

The  Son  of  Man,  162. 

Our  substitute  and  repre¬ 
sentative,  170. 

A  visitor  from  another 
world,  165,  166,  171,  173, 
175. 

Jew,  the  Modernist,  Christian 
Unitarian,  155. 

Jews  and  Christian  Science,  32, 
40. 

Jewish  race,  the,  161. 

Job,  168. 

John,  St.,  162,  165. 

Joseph,  192. 

Joshi,  Prof.  J.  L.,  111. 

Jude,  St.,  72. 

Judgment  for  sin  forever 
passed  to  the  believer,  170. 

Karma,  44. 

Lazarus’  tomb,  168. 

Life,  subconscious,  69. 

London  and  the  Coue  move¬ 
ment,  122. 

Lot,  187,  188. 

Lord’s  Supper,  The,  57. 

Lungs,  our,  142. 

Luther,  Martin,  89. 

Lystra,  impotent  man  at,  85. 

Mackenzie,  Mrs.,  127,  128. 

Man,  God’s  masterpiece,  146, 
147. 

Man,  endowed  with  a  glorified 
body,  146-149. 

Man,  his  fall,  145. 

Man,  the  thinker,  138. 

Man,  the  up-looker,  138. 

Man,  why  compelled  to  seek 
clothing,  145,  146. 

Manna,  137,  166. 

Marconi,  152. 


Materialism,  14,  17. 

McComb,  Dr.  Samuel,  53. 
Massachusetts  Metaphysical 
College,  34. 

Means,  What  are?  125,  129, 
133. 

Mechtnikoff,  144. 

Metaphysics,  29. 

Metaphysical  Club,  38. 
Methodist  Quarterly  Review, 
13. 

Mill,  John  S.,  138. 

Milmine,  Georgine,  33. 

Ministry  of  Healing,  The,  92. 
Missionary  Training  Institute, 
28. 

Modern  scholarship,  176. 
Mohammed,  102,  156,  172. 
Mohammedanism,  155,  156. 
Moody  revival,  the,  12. 
Moorhead,  Max,  78. 

Morrow,  Mrs.  Abbie,  109. 
Mortal,  contrasted  with  cor¬ 
ruptible,  94,  95. 

Muller,  George,  108,  125,  126. 

Name,  The,  101,  102. 

Nancy,  France,  86,  118. 

Naomi,  163. 

Nature,  cold  and  cruel,  138, 
139. 

Naylor,  Mrs.,  26. 

Nazarine,  Society  of  the,  54. 
Nazarine,  The,  55. 

Nehemiah,  129. 

New  Knowledge,  The,  178. 

New  Testament,  40,  43,  73,  103, 
123,  147,  158,  173,  182. 

New  Thought,  37-44,  111. 

New  Thought  Alliance,  38. 

New  Thought  testimonies,  108. 
New  Thought,  The  Spirit  of 
the ,  38. 

Nicodemus,  167. 

Nyack,  N.  Y.,  28. 

Occidentalised  heathenism,  107, 

111. 

Old  Orchard,  Maine,  19. 


TOPICAL  INDEX 


217 


Old  Testament,  73,  92,  128,  147, 
158,  173. 

Organs  of  the  body,'  142. 

Pantheism,  35. 

Parker,  Dr.  Joseph,  191. 

Paul,  St.,  85,  162,  186,  188. 

“  Paul’s  thorn,”  95-97. 

Peabody,  Fred.  W.,  33. 

“  Peace,  Prosperity  and 
Power,”  107,  108. 

Peter,  St.,  161,  165,  168,  188. 
Phacagocytes,  the,  143. 
Pharaoh,  165. 

Pharisees,  the,  168. 

Plato,  102. 

Portland  Evening  Courier,  31. 

“  Power  to  Heal,  The,”  55. 
Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI,  57. 
Prayer,  God  the  object  of 
rather  than  His  gifts,  189. 
Prayer,  the  psychology  of,  69. 
Province  of  the  Pacific,  the,  51. 
Psychical,  the,  divorced  from 
the  spiritual,  52-54,  118. 
Psychology  and  the  Christian 
Life,  66. 

Psychology  of  Orthodoxy,  The, 

66. 

Psychological  schools,  52,  53, 
107,  118. 

Psycho-therapy,  52. 

Pulis,  Josephus,  26. 

Pym,  Dr.,  66. 

Python,  the  spirit  of,  103. 

Quimby,  George  A.,  30,  32. 
Quimby,  Phineas  P.,  29,  31-34, 
57. 

Quimby  Manuscripts,  The,  30, 

31. 

Rader,  Rev.  Paul,  27,  49. 

Rats  and  mice,  108. 

Riale,  Dr.  Frank  N.,  89,  92. 
Redemption,  35,  41,  114,  147, 
149,  158,  183. 

Redemption,  184. 

Regeneration,  67. 


Reed,  Mary,  74,  75. 

Resignation  to  invalidism,  76. 
Responsibility,  personal,  183. 
Rest,  133. 

Restoration,  the,  147,  149. 
Revival  in  New  England,  11. 
Revival  of  the  Gift  of  Healing, 
The,  55. 

Revival,  the  Moody,  12. 

Romans  8:11  as  applied  to 
physical  life,  93. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  49,  57. 
Ruth,  163,  164. 

Satan,  67,  112,  171. 

Satan,  the  Adversary,  104,  113. 
Satan,  an  angel  of  light,  103, 
104. 

Satan,  the  god  of  this  age,  101, 
113,  168. 

Satanic  operations  in  sickness, 
99-107. 

Satanic  operations  in  the  realm 
of,  170. 

Salvation  Army,  the,  207. 
Scandinavians,  138. 

Self,  the  death  of,  189. 
Self-mastery  through  Con¬ 
scious  Auto-Suggestion,  121. 
Sex-control,  122. 

Sickness,  Is  it  from  the  hand 
of  God?  55,  56. 

Sickness  the  result  of  sin,  100. 
Simpson,  Dr.  Albert  B.,  24,  47, 
48,  49, _  76,  131. 

Sin,  not  in  the  first  man,  145- 
149. 

Sons  of  God,  revelation  of,  148. 
Spleen,  the  uses  of,  143. 
Spoffard,  Daniel  H.,  32. 

St.  Vitus’  Dance,  61. 

Stanley,  Henry  M.,  165. 
Stanton,  Dr.  R.  E.,  89. 

Steele,  Dr.  Daniel  H.,  13. 
Stockmayer,  Pastor  Otto,  18, 
78. 

Stoughton,  Mass.,  33. 

Strychnin,  134. 

Sub-conscious  mind,  the,  66-69. 


218 


TOPICAL  INDEX 


Suggestion,  53. 

Sunday,  Billy,  12. 

Surgical  operations,  131. 

Swain,  Dr.  Richard  L.,  36. 

Tabernacles,  the  feast  of,  177. 
Tea  and  coffee,  133. 

Tertullian,  103,  105.  # 

Thayer’s  Greek  Lexicon,  91. 
Theosophy,  111. 

Therapeutics,  change  in,  17. 
Thirteenth  St.  Pres.  Church., 
25. 

Timothy,  97,  98. 

Transfigured  life,  the,  189. 
Triumphs  and  Testings,  80. 
Trophimus,  97,  98. 

Trudell,  Dorothea,  18. 
Trumbull,  Dr.  Henry  C.,  165. 
Turks,  the,  40,  156. 

Unitarianism,  12. 

Universal  brotherhood,  40,  157. 
Universal  life,  73. 

Vedas,  the,  40. 

Veil  of  the  temple,  the,  171. 
Voice,  the  human,  141. 


Walsh,  the  Rt.  Rev.  H.  Paken- 
ham,  114. 

Wentworth,  Mrs.  Sally,  33,  34. 
Wesleyan  Movement,  11. 
Willard  Tract  Repository,  19. 
Whittemore,  Mrs.,  26. 

Will  of  God,  the,  65,  101. 

Will  of  God  in  healing,  74,  75, 
76,  82. 

Will  of  God  in  sickness,  55,  56. 
Williams,  Annie  M.,  83,  84,  117. 
Wilson,  Dr.  Henry,  50,  56. 
Wilson,  Henry  B.,  54,  55,  56, 
59,  66,  82,  88,  127. 

Wood,  Henry,  38. 

Word  of  God,  the,  37,  82,  111, 

123,  125,  157. 

Word  of  God  cannot  be  com¬ 
prehended  by  intellectual 
processes,  176,  177. 
Worcester,  Dr.  El  wood,  65,  66, 

124. 

Wordsworth,  138. 

Worldliness  in  the  alien  cults, 

110. 

Zion  City,  23. 

Zoroaster,  172. 


TEXTUAL  INDEX 


Genesis 

page: 


1:26 .  145 

2:25  .  147 

3:21  .  158 

9:4 .  173 

13th  ch .  187 

15:9,  10 .  159 

41:52 .  192 

Exodus 

15:25  .  130 

16:20 .  165 

Numbers 

21:5  .  166 

Deuteronomy 

6:5  .  185 

8:3  .  137 

Joshua 

7:21  .  110 

Ruth 

1:  16,  17 .  163 

I  Samuel 

23:2  .  176 

II  Kings 

2:  19-22 .  130 

4:38-41  .  130 

10:  15  .  165 

II  Chronicles 

20:7  .  187 

20:20-22  .  193 

25:9  . .  192 


Ezra 

page 


8th  ch .  128 

Nehemiah 
1:  11  .  129 

2:6 .  129 

8:  10 .  125 

Job 

2:7  .  100 

13:  15  .  187 

19:25,  26 .  169 

23:  12  .  187 

31:24,  25 .  110 

35:10  .  193 

42:  10 .  194 


Psalms 

8:5 .  146 

10:3 .  110 

37:4 .  187 

40:  1-3  .  98 

40:6-8  .  159 

50:23  .  125 

55:6 .  192 

62:10 .  110 

63:1  .  139 

73:25  .  187 

73:26  .  139 

104:2 .  146 

119:36,  37....  110 
139: 14 .  138 


Proverbs 

4:22 .  139 

14:  10 .  116 

23:4,  5 .  110 

28:16 .  110 


Isaiah 

page: 


25:8,  9 .  161 

38th  ch.. .  .72,  130 

41:8 .  187 

45:24  .  123 

53:2  . 110,  151 

53:3,4 .  91 

61:3 .  192 

61:7 .  192 

Jeremiah 

6:  13 .  110 

15: 17 .  187 

22:  17,  18 .  110 

Ezekiel 

17:18 .  165 

Daniel 

10:  1-19  .  100 

12:3 .  147 

Joel 

2:25 .  192 

Micah 

2:2 .  110 

3:7 .  176 

Habakkuk 

1:  13 .  160 

2:9 .  110 

Zephaniah 
3:19 .  192 

Zechariah 

3:  1,  2 . 82,  101 

12:  10 .  161 


219 


220 


TEXTUAL  INDEX 


Matthew 


page: 

3:  16 . 

183 

3:  17  ....101, 

160 

4:  1  . 

184 

4:1-11  . 

168 

4:4  . 73, 

137 

5:14-16  . 

150 

6:  11,  24-34... 

110 

6:  16 . 

126 

6:22 . 

149 

7:  15-29  . 

107 

7:21-23  . 

101 

8:  17 . 

91 

8:20 . 

110 

8:26 . 

183 

9:8  . 76, 

168 

10:34  . 

72 

10:37  . 

113 

11:5  . 

110 

11:27  . 

161 

12:39 . 

131 

12:46-50  .... 

101 

13:14-17  .... 

149 

13:43 . 

147 

14:31  . 

183 

16:  16,  17.160, 

178 

17:  1-5, 

101,  148, 

160 

17:20 . 

183 

17:27 . 

110 

19:26 . 

190 

20:28 . 42, 

110, 

161, 

168 

22:42  . 

152 

24:  24  . 

103 

25:  34-36  .... 

106 

27:51  . 

171 

28:20  . 

172 

Mark 

1:24 . 

160 

1:24,  34 . 

168 

4:40  . 

183 

5:7 . 

168 

6:3 . 

110 

8:22-25  . 

77 

9:23 . 

190 

11:22 . 

182 

12:36  . 

page: 

176 

14:3 . 

198 

16:  18 . 

98 

Luke 

1:70 . 

177 

2:7 . 

110 

4:  18 . 

110 

4:  34 . 

160 

5:4 . 

193 

8:3 . 

110 

8:  14 . 

110 

8:28  . 

160 

9:58 . 

110 

12: 15  . 

110 

13:  16 . 

100 

15:  1  . 

161 

15:  10 . 

42 

16:  14 . 

110 

19:  10  . 42, 

165 

21:  34-36..  110, 

114 

21:37  . 

184 

22: 15  . 

184 

John 

1:1-3  . 

172 

1:4,  5,  9 . 

150 

1:  1-10  . 

162 

1:12,  13 . 

41 

1:  14 . 

151 

1:29 . 

160 

2:  10 . 

212 

3:2,  3 . 

114 

3:3,  5 . 

41 

3:  13 . 

165 

3:  16,  17 . 

161 

4:  34.76,  101, 

184 

5:  19,  30 . 

184 

5:25 . 

170 

5:28,  29 . 

163 

5:38 . 

101 

6:38 . 76, 

101, 

165, 

184 

7:37-39  . 

178 

8:  12  . 150, 

162 

8:23 . 

165 

8:  28 . 

184 

8:  29..  76,  101, 

184 

page: 


8:36 .  161 

8:  42 .  113 

8:44 .  168 

8:44-47  .  101 

8:46 .  160 

9th  ch....ll6,  131 

10:  1  .  186 

10:  10,  26,  28.  165 

10:  17,  18 .  161 

10:28 .  172 

11:25,26 .  94 

11:35 .  168 

12:3 .  198 

12:31 . 101,  168 

13:3 .  166 

14:3 .  114 

14:  10 .  184 

14:  15 .  185 

14:  15,  22,  24.  113 

14:  19 .  172 

14:30, 

101,  113,  168 

15:7  . 76,  187 

15: 10-14  ....  113 

15:24 .  166 

15:26 .  178 

16:5,  6,  28...  166 

16:7 .  177 

16:  24 .  188 

17:  2,  22 .  172 

17:3 .  42 

17:4,  5,  8,  11, 

13,  18 .  166 

17:8 .  101 

17:22 .  148 

20:31  .  160 

21:  15-17.. 113,  185 

Acts 

1:  16 .  177 

2:1  .  80 

3:6 .  112 

3:12-18  .  78 

3:  14 .  160 

3:  19-21...  149,  177 

4:10  . 33,  78 

4:  13 .  175 

4:27 .  160 


TEXTUAL  INDEX 


221 


page 

5:29-32  ., 

. . . .  78 

7:2 . 

....  146 

8:23  .... 

....  113 

9:34,  42.. 

.78,  160 

10:38.... 

..75,  76, 

100,  168 

11:17  ... 

. ...  206 

16:  16  . . . 

. ...  103 

16:25  ... 

. ...  193 

17:6  .... 

....  71 

20:28  ... 

....  161 

27th  ch. . . 

....  109 

28:26  ... 

. ...  177 

Romans 

1:4 . 

. ...  101 

4:17-21  . 

. ...  188 

5:1  . 

. ...  172 

5:  14  . . . . 

148,  159 

6:4-11  .. 

....  114 

6:  12  .... 

. . . .  94 

7:  18  .... 

....  123 

8:  1  . 

. ...  170 

8:  17-23  . 

. . . .  94 

8: 19  .... 

....  148 

8:26,  27.. 

. ...  185 

8:37  .... 

. ...  188 

11:  15  ... 

....  161 

15:4  .... 

. . . .  73 

15: 13  ... 

....  188 

I  Corinthians 

1:  18-31, 

110, 

175,  180 

2:3  . 

....  40 

2:  14  . 

.54,  176 

3:21-23  . 

....  189 

6:  19  . 

.95,  139 

8:6 . 

. ...  162 

10: 11  ... 

. . . .  73 

10:31  ... 

. ...  136 

11:  19  ... 

. . . .  72 

11:26  .... 

.44,  173 

11:30  ... 

..57,  79 

12:4,  5,  6, 

11.  71 

12:9  .... 

. ...  182 

13th  ch.... 

..71,  126 

PAGE 

15:3  .  161 

15.22  .  163 

15:39  .  143 

15:43,  47 .  148 

15:52-54  ....  94 
16:22  .  113 


II  Corinthians 


1:20  . 

73 

2:  11  . 

103 

3:14-16  . 

161 

3:  18  . 

149 

4:4  . 

101 

4:6  . 

179 

4:7-11  . 

123 

4:  10,  11... 94, 

140 

4:  15,  16 . 

193 

5:4 . 

94 

5:  14,  15 . 

113 

5:16  ....  106, 

178 

5:21  . 160, 

170 

6:9,  10 . 

123 

8:9 . 

110 

10:  3-5.. 70,  74, 

181 

11:3  . 

70 

11: 13-15  .... 

103 

11:25  . 

109 

12:7-12, 

79,  123, 

140 

Galatians 

1:  11,  12 . 

167 

1:  15,  16 . 

180 

1:  18 . 

33 

2:9  . 

165 

2:20 . 123, 

139, 

161,  170, 

182 

5:6  . 113, 

186 

5:22,  23 . 

182 

Ephesians 

1:6 . 

172 

1:7  . 

161 

1:  10  . 

114 

1:18-23  . 

74 

2:  1-10  ...171,  182 

2:4  . 

42 

3:  10 . 

195 

page 


3:16-18  .  113 

3:20  .  193 

4:21  .  175 

5:8 .  99 

5:25-33  ..113,  161 

6:  10-12  .  82 

6:  12  .  171 


Philippians 

1:20-23  .  113 

1:21  .  153 

1:23 .  193 

2:5-11  .  161 

2:7  . 159,  183 

2:7,  8 .  110 

2:9-11  .  114 

2:  13  .  123 

2:27 .  97 

3:  7-11  ...113,  114 

3:9 .  182 

3:20,  21, 

140,  148,  171 

4:4 .  125 

4:11-13,  19...  110 


Colossians 


1:  15-18, 


o' 

114, 

162 

1: 

19- 

•23  . 

172 

1: 

20 

161 

1: 

24 

114 

2: 

9, 

10... 

...74 

,  97 

2: 

13, 

14.. 

170 

2: 

15 

171 

3: 

3.. 

o' 

o. 

114, 

123, 

126, 

189 

3: 

4.. 

.114, 

148 

3: 

5  . 

110 

I  Thessalonians 

2:13 . 76,  182 

4:  13-18  .  94 

5:23  .  58 

II  Thessalonians 

2:7-12  .  104 


222 


TEXTUAL  INDEX 


I  Timothy 

page 

1:2  .  99 

1: 15  .  161 

4:4,  5 .  136 

5:23  .  97 

6:  15,  16 .  172 

6:  17  .  110 

II  Timothy 

1:  12  .  114 

2:  11,  12 .  114 

3:  15-17  .  177 

4:20 .  97 


Hebrews 


1: 

1-3.... 

.162, 

172 

1: 

14 . 

.150, 

167 

2: 

14 . 

..75, 

100, 

169, 

170 

2: 

17  .... 

159 

3: 

7  _ 

177 

4: 

12,  13. 

149 

4: 

15  .... 

159 

5: 

7,  8... 

184 

7: 

26  ..., 

161 

9: 

8 . 

.171, 

177 

9: 

14  ... 

161 

9: 

26  .... 

161 

page 

10:5  .  159 

10:15  .  177 

10:  19,  20..  151,  171 

11:3 .  182 

11:5  .  94 

11:33,  34... 70,  97 


James 


1: 

2-4  ... 

193 

1: 

5  . 

.110, 

189 

2: 

19  .... 

106 

2: 

23  .... 

187 

4: 

7  . 

..82, 

101 

I  Peter 

1: 

7  . 

.148, 

188 

1: 

8 . 

.113, 

153 

1: 

11  .... 

177 

1: 

10-12  . 

73 

1: 

19,  20.. 

161 

1: 

23-25.. 

..41, 

70, 

73, 

188 

2: 

7  . 

153 

2: 

22  .... 

160 

2: 

24  .... 

91 

3: 

15  .... 

182 

II  Peter 

page 


1:21  .  177 

I  John 

1:7  . 150,  161 

2:2 .  163 

2:3-5  .  113 

2:  15 .  110 

3:3 .  148 

4:  19,  20 .  113 

5:2,  3 .  113 

5:9-12,  20....  101 
5:  14 .  76 

Jude 

3  .  72 

3,  11 .  150 

9 . 82,  101,  175 

Revelation 

1:5  .  161 

1:  14  .  149 

5:9,  10...  114,  161 

12:9 .  104 

19:  10 .  177 

20:3,  10 .  104 


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